O  PRINCETON,    N.    J.  <w 


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Shelf. Nianbcr 


THE 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 


J.    H.    McILVAINE 

AUTHOR   OF   "THE   WISDOM   OF   HOLY  SCRIPTURE" 


^D.de  i)  Gocpia. 

Rev.  xiii.  i8. 


NEW   YORK 
ANSON    D.    F.    RANDOLPH    &    COMPANY 

38   WEST   TWENTY-THIRD   STREET. 


COPYRIGHT,    1886,    BY 

ANSON    D.    F.    RANDOLPH    &    COMPANY. 


Edward  O.  Jenkins'   Sons, 

Printers  and  Stereotypers, 

20  North  William  St.,  New  York. 


PREFACE 


Blessed  is  he  that  readeth  and  they  that  hear  the  words  of  the  prophecy,  and  keep 
the  things  written  therein,  for  the  time  is  near.— Rev.  i.  3. 

This  surely  ought  to  be  an  all-constraining  motive  to  the 
study  of  the  Apocalypse,  and  all-sufficient  evidence  that  it 
was  intended  to  be  understood.  Yet  hitherto,  as  is  well 
known,  it  has  been  almost  as  a  sealed  book  to  multitudes  of 
God's  dear  children.  Hence  the  aim  of  the  present  work  is 
to  render  it  intelligible,  interesting,  and  edifying,  not  only 
to  scholars,  but  also  and  no  less  to  plain  and  simple-minded 
readers.  The  author  has  not  been  discouraged  by  previous 
failures,  because,  as  it  seems  to  him,  they  were  the  inevitable 
consequence  of  erroneous  views  of  the  general  character  and 
object  of  the  book,  namely,  that  it  was  mainly  intended  to 
represent  historical  events,  whereas,  according  to  the  view 
here  taken,  it  represents  truths,  ideas, — and  events  in  so  far 
only  as  they  exemplify  these  ideas.  Consequently  many  of 
his  interpretations  are  entirel}^  new,  such  as  those  of  the 
First  Seal,  the  Fifth  and  Sixth  Trumpets,  and  the  Two  Wit- 
nesses ;  and  almost  all  of  them  are  more  or  less  different 
from  any  that  have  ever  before  been  given.  He  has  been 
guided  also  by  the  following  clews  :  i.  Interpretations  of  the 
leading  symbols  by  the  Apocalyptist  himself,  some  of  which 
have  hitherto  been  strangely  overlooked,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  First  Seal  ;  2.  References  to  other  places  in  the  Bible 
where  the  same  symbols  occur,  and  where  their  meaning  is 
either  given  or  easily  determined  ;  3.  Consistency,  the  sym- 
bols being  almost  constantly  used  each  in  the  same  sense, 
and  varying  only  as  they  are  intended  to  reflect  different 
shades  of  the  same  ideas  ;   4.  Analogy  between  the  natural 

(iii) 


iv  PREFACE 

and  spiritual  worlds,  such  as  underlies  the  Lord's  parables, 
and  all  other  Scriptural  images.  The  author's  special  qual- 
ification for  his  work  is  what  may  be  called  a  lifelong  study 
and  practice  in  the  interpretation  of  the  symbols  of  the  Jew- 
ish, Christian,  Hindoo,  Greek,  Roman,  with  more  or  less  of  the 
Egyptian,  Scandinavian,  and  other  religions.  For  correction 
of  the  Greek  text  he  has  relied  chiefly  upon  the  critical  labors 
of  Dean  Alford,  the  Revisers  of  the  New  Testament,  and  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Craven  in  Lange's  Commentary,  which  last  can 
hardly  be  overestimated.  He  submits  to  Biblical  Greek 
scholars  his  rendering  of  the  text  in  the  few  cases  where  it 
differs  from  preceding  translations,  as  in  the  word  eaq)ayf.dvoy 
(Rev.  V.  6).  In  order  to  keep  the  work  within  readable  limits, 
he  has  been  constrained  to  exclude  a  multitude  of  details 
and  side-issues,  which  will  suggest  themselves  to  intelligent 
readers,  and  to  diverge  as  little  as  possible  from  the  main 
stream  of  light  which  the  Apocalypse  pours  upon  the  ocean 
of  God's  purposes,  government,  and  providence,  the  history 
of  the  church  and  the  world,  and  the  final  triumph  of  good 
over  evil.  He  has  seldom  thought  it  necessary  to  refer  by 
name  to  the  few  authors  from  whom  he  has  quoted.  In  fine, 
the  work  is  so  unlike  everything  hitherto  published  on  the 
subject  that  he  is  not  without  hope  of  its  attracting  the  at- 
tention of  those  who  are  competent  to  judge  of  its  merits 
and  defects,  and  that  so  it  may  prove  the  more  helpful  to 
many  who  love  the  Sacred  Oracles. 

Newark  N.  J.,  1886. 


CONTENTS. 


I. 

PAGE 

Authorship  and  Character  of  the  Work — Reasons  for  the  Study 

of  It,  i.  1-3 I 

II. 
Greeting — Doxology — Theme,  i.  4-8 13 

III. 

Patmos — Ecstatic  Vision — The  Seven  Churches,  i.  9-1 1.    .        .      24 

IV. 

Opening  Vision — The   Lord   of  Glory   in   the    Midst    of    His 

Churches,  i.  12-20 33 

V. 

Epistle  to  the  Church  in  Ephesus — The  Church  in  Declension, 

ii.  1-7 43 

VI. 

Epistle  to  the  Church  in  Smyrna — The  Martyr  Church,  ii.  8-1 1.       53 

VII. 

Epistle  to  the  Church  in  Pergamus — The  Church  infested  with 

Immoral  Doctrines,  and  in  Neglect  of  Discipline,  ii.  12-17.      62 

VIII. 

Epistle  to  the  Church  in  Thyatira— The  Church  infected  with 

Idolatry  and  Impurity,  ii.  18-29 7^ 

(V) 


vi  CONTENTS 

IX. 


PAGE 


Epistle  to  the  Church  in  Sardis — The  Church  having  only  a 

Name  to  Live,  iii,  i-6 8i 

X. 

Epistle  to  the  Church  in  Philadelphia — The  Church  Victorious 

over  her  Enemies,  iii.  7-13 9^^ 

XI. 

Epistle  to  the  Church  in  Laodicea — The  Lukewarm  Church, 

iii..  14-22. 99 

xn. 

Vision  of  God,  and  of  the  Creation  Worshipping  the  Creator, 

iv.  i-ii 108 

xin. 

Vision  of  Christ  Entering  upon  His  Mediatorial  Government, 

V.  1-14 118 

XIV. 

The  First  Four  Seals — The  Four  Sore  Judgments  of  God,  vi.  1-8.     127 

XV. 

The  Fifth  Seal — The  Souls  of  the  Martyrs  under  the  Altar,  vi. 

9-1 1 139 

XVI. 

The  Sixth  Seal — Harbingers  of  the  Last  Judgment,  vi.  12-17.     145 

XVII. 

Sealing  of  the  CXLIV  Thousand — Safety  and  Blessedness  of 

the  Elect,  vii.  1-17. 152 

XVIII. 

The  Seventh  Seal — The  Judgments  of  God  in  Answer  to  the 

Prayers  of  the  Saints,  viii.  1-6 163 


CONTENTS  vii 

XIX. 

PAGE 

The,  First  Four  Trumpets — Judgments  upon  Natural,  Political, 

Intellectual,  and  Spiritual  Life,  viii.  7-12 171 

XX. 

The  Fifth  Trumpet— The  Torments  of  Human  Life,  viii.  13-ix. 


178 

XXL 

The  Sixth  Trumpet — The  Judgment  of  Sudden  and  Violent 

Death,  ix.  13-21 188 

XXIL 

The  Seven  Thunders — Secret  Things  belong  unto  the  Lord, 

X.  1-7 195 

XXIIL 

The  Little  Book  of  the  End — The  Sweetness  and  Bitterness  of 

Prophecy,  X.  8-1 1 202 

XXIV. 

The  Temple  Measured— The  Court  of  the  Gentiles  cast  out — 
The  Safety  of  the  True  Church — Nominal  Christians  Re- 
jected, xi.  1-2. 210 

XXV. 

The   Beast  out  of  the  Abyss — The  Lord's  Two  Witnesses — 

Faith  and  Prayer,  xi.  3-14. 216 

XXVI. 

The  Seventh  Trumpet — Jubilate  in  Heaven  for  the  Coming  of 

the  Kingdom,  xi.  15-19. 2-28 

XXVII. 

The  Travailing  Woman,   Her  Child,  and  the   Dragon  —  The 

Church,  Christ,  and  Satan,  xii.  1-17 233 

XXVIII. 

The  Beast  out  of  the  Sea— Antichristian  Secular  Power,  xiii.  i  - 10.     244 


viii  CONTENTS 

XXIX. 

PAGE 

The  Beast  out  of  the  Earth — Antichristian  Ecclesiastical  Power, 

xiii.  11-18 252 

XXX. 

The  CXLIV  Thousand  on  the   Heavenly  Mount  Zion — The 

Church  of  the  Saved  Triumphant,  xiv.  1-5.  .        .        .     260 

XXXI. 

The  Angel  of  the  Everlasting  Gospel — The  Gospel  Preached 

unto  all  Nations,  xiv.  (i-'j 267 

XXXII. 

Pre-announcement  of  the  Fall  of  Babjdon — Judgment  upon  the 

Great  Antichristian  World-Power,  xiv.  8 274 

XXXIII. 

Pre-announcement  of  Judgment  upon  the  Worshippers  of  the 

Beast — Upon  the  Church  Corrupted  by  the  World,  xiv.  9-12.     284 

XXXIV. 

A  Voice  from  Heaven  announcing  the  Blessed  Estate  of  the 

Pious  Dead,  xiv.  13. 291 

XXXV. 

The  Harvest  and  Vintage  of  the  Earth — Ingathering  of  the 
Righteous  to  their  Reward,  and  of  the  Wicked  to  their 
Punishment,  xiv.  14-20. 299 

XXXVI. 

The  Angels  of  the  Last  Plagues — The  Glassy  Sea — The  Song  of 

Moses  and  the  Lamb — The  Great  Glory  of  God,  xv.  1-8.     .     307 

XXXVII. 

The  Seven  Last  Plagues — The  Judgments  of  the  Last  Times, 

xvi.  1-2 1. 314 

XXXVIII. 

Babylon  as  a  Harlot — Spiritual  Adultery,  xvii.  1-18.   .        .        .     325 


CONTENTS  ix 

XXXIX. 

PAGE 

Destruction  of  Babylon — Deliverance  of  the  Church,  xviii.  1-24.     336 

XL. 

Jubilate  in  Heaven  over  the  Judgment  of  the  World-Power 
— The  Purification  of  the  Church,  and  the  Marriage  of  the 
Lamb,  xix.  i-io 346 

XLI. 

The  Coming  of  the  Lord  from   Heaven  with   His  Armies  to 

Subdue  the  Nations,  xix.  11-16 352 

XLIL 

Final  Judgment  upon  the  Beast  and  the  False  Prophet — 
Upon  the  Antichristian  Political  and  Ecclesiastical  Powers, 
xix.  17-21. 359. 

XLIIL 

The  Binding  of  Satan — The  First  Resurrection — The  Millen- 
nial Kingdom,  xx.  1-6 365 

XLIV. 

The  Postmillennial  Conflict — The  Judgment  of  Satan,  xx.  7-10.     373 

XLV. 

The  Resurrection  of  the  Dead,  and  the  Judgment  after  Death, 

XX.  11-14 379 

XLVL 

The  New  Heaven  and  New  Earth— Restoration  of  all  Things, 

xxi.  1-8.     ...........     390 

XLVIL 

The   New  Jerusalem — The   Church  of  the   Resurrection,  xxi. 

9-27  to  xxii.  1-5 397 

XLVIII. 

Conclusion  —  Assurances  —  Blessings — Invitations — Warnings, 

xxii.  6-21. 413 


AUTHORSHIP   AND   CHARACTER   OF   THE   WORK      REASONS 
FOR   THE   STUDY   OF   IT      I  I-3 

In  the  title  and  proem  which  the  author  has  prefixed  to  this 
work,  he  has  given  us  as  many  and  as  strong  reasons  for  the 
study  of  it  as  could  well  be  crowded  into  so  few  words.  To 
these,  therefore,  we  ought  to  give  some  patient  attention,  in 
order  especially  to  obviate  that  general  prejudice  against  it 
which  has  arisen  from  its  supposed  obscurity,  and  which  has 
ltd  the  Church  of  England  to  omit  it  almost  entirely  from 
her  public  readings.  For,  in  the  words  of  one  of  her  most 
eminent  clergymen,  "  Not  one  of  the  precious  messages  of 
the  Spirit  to  the  churches  is  ever  heard  in  the  public  services 
of  a  church  never  weary  of  appealing  to  her  Scriptural  litur- 
gies." 

THE    REVELATION    OF    [sAINT]    JOHN    [tHE    DIVINe] 

The  first  of  these  reasons  is  contained  in  its  title,  which  in- 
forms us  that  St.  John  was  its  author.  But  the  words  in 
brackets  are  not  found  in  the  oldest  and  best  manuscripts, 
nor  do  we  know  by  whom  they  were  first  applied  to  this 
apostle  to  distinguish  him  as  pre-eminent  in  that  knowledge 
of  God  and  divine  things  which  the  work  discloses.  For 
'Divine'  here  signifies  theologian,  as  we  say  of  any  eminent 
clergyman.  He  is  a  learned  and  pious  divine.  That  the  be- 
loved disciple  of  our  Lord,  however,  was  the  author  of  the 
Apocalypse,  seems  to  admit  of  no  reasonable  doubt,  for  in 
the  primitive  church,  so  far  as  we  know,  this  was  never  called 
in  question,  except  by  some  errorists  who  rejected  almost  all 
the  other  books  of  the  New  Testament,  and  this  one,  of 
course,  along  with   the   rest.     With  this  exception,   it  was 


2  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YFSE 

ascribed  to  St.  John  by  all  who  mentioned  it,  until  about  the 
close  of  the  third  century,  when  its  authorship  began  to  be 
questioned  by  some,  but  only  on  account  of  certain  doctrines 
which  it  was  supposed  to  teach.  Such  objections,  of  course, 
can  have  no  weight  against  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  first 
ages,  confirmed,  as  it  is,  by  many  peculiar  forms  of  expres- 
sion which  are  found  also  in  St.  John's  Gospel  and  Epistles. 
These  wonderful  prophecies,  therefore,  having  been  delivered 
to  the  church  by  the  most  intimate  companion  and  beloved 
disciple  of  our  blessed  Lord,  to  say  nothing  here  of  their 
plenary  inspiration,  of  Vv^hich  we  shall  find  abundant  evi- 
dences, are  to  be  diligently  and  prayerfully  studied  by  all 
who  profess  and  call  themselves  Christians, 

I  The  Revelation  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  God  gave  unto  Him,  to 
show  unto  His  servants  what  things  must  shortly  come  to  pass. 

Another  such  reason  we  have  in  the  primary  origin  and 
character  of  the  book.  For  here  it  is  declared  to  be  a  revel- 
ation of  or  from  Jesus  Christ,  which  God  gave  to  Him  that 
He  might  show  unto  His  servants  future  events  which  were 
soon  to  take  place.  The  word  "  revelation,"  however,  has  a 
more  comprehensive  and  profound  meaning  than  as  limited 
to  prediction,  and  hence  we  call  the  whole  Scripture  by  this 
name,  as  being  the  grand  disclosure  which  God  has  given  of 
Himself  and  of  the  spiritual  world.  Yet  it  is  to  be  observed 
that  this  book  is  the  only  one  of  the  Sacred  Canon  which  is 
so  called  by  the  authority  of  divine  inspiration,  which  seems 
to  imply  that  it  is  pre-eminently  such;  and  this  we  shall  find 
strikingly  confirmed  and  illustrated  as  we  proceed  in  the 
study  of  it.  For  certainly  there  is  no  other  portion  of  Holy 
Scripture,  unless  we  except  the  apocalyptic  visions  of  the 
prophet  Daniel,  between  which  and  these  of  St.  John  there  is 
a  close  connection  and  resemblance  in  many  particulars, 
which  contains  such  wonderful  disclosures,  not  only  of  the 
future  history  of  the  church  and  the  world,  but  also  of  the 
secret  purposes  and  providence  of  God  in  general;  or  which 
brings  out  into  such  full  and  clear  manifestation  the  invisi- 
ble spiritual  powers  and  agencies  by  which  these  purposes 


REASONS  FOR  THE  STUDY  OF  IT  3 

are  realized.  Even  where  representations  wholly  symbolical 
are  employed,  this  unveiling  of  supernatural  agencies  and 
transactions  is  still  the  grand  characteristic  of  the  book,  and 
that  which  gives  it  its  distinctive  name,  the  Apocalypse,  or 
Revelation,  which  signifies  literally  the  Unveiling.  For 
where  to  our  natural  eyes  are  visible  only  Christian  churches 
engaged  in  more  or  less  strenuous  conflict  with  sin  and  cor- 
ruption in  themselves  and  in  the  world  around  them,  the 
divinely  illumined  eye  of  our  Seer  discerns,  and  his  glow- 
ing word-pictures  enable  us  to  see,  our  Lord  himself  walking 
in  the  midst  of  them,  and  holding  their  angels  in  His  right 
hand.  Where  we  see  only  war,  pestilence,  and  famine,  He 
is  here  revealed  sending  forth  these  scourges  upon  mankind 
to  punish  them  for  their  sin  of  rebellion  against  His  author- 
ity in  order  to  subdue  them  uijto  Himself.  Where  we  see 
only  diseases  and  sufferings  from  natural  causes,  we  are  here 
given  to  behold  "  the  angel  of  the  abyss  "  opening  it,  and 
letting  loose  spiritual  agents  in  the  smoke  of  its  torment  to 
inflict  them.  Where  we  see  only  calamities  and  sorrows  of 
various  kinds,  here  we  are  shown  the  souls  of  the  martyrs 
under  the  altar  of  burnt  sacrifice  crying  to  God  that  their 
blood  may  be  avenged  and  their  cause  vindicated.  In  fine, 
where  we  see  only  a  great  missionary  work  like  that  of  the 
first  ages,  or  that  which  is  now  going  on  to  its  consumma- 
tion, we  have  here  a  mighty  spiritual  agency  unveiled  urging 
it  onwards,  "  an  angel  flying  in  midheaven  having  the  ever- 
lasting gospel  to  preach  to  every  nation  and  tongue  and 
tribe  and  people"  (Rev.  xiv.  6).  A  hundred  similar  examples 
might  easily  be  given.  Thus,  in  a  truly  wonderful  manner, 
this  book  unveils  the  spiritual  world,  especially  those  trans- 
actions of  which  the  events  which  take  place  here  below 
are,  as  it  were,  the  shadows  which  they  cast  upon  the  veil  of 
sense  in  which  we  are  enclosed.  Hence  we  see  that  these  un- 
veilings  are  the  counterpart,  so  to  speak,  of  faith  defined  as 
"  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  and  the  realization  of 
things  not  seen"  (Heb.  xi.  i),  for  the  confirmation  and  per- 
fecting of  which,  therefore,  they  ought  to  be  diligently 
studied. 


4  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE. 

I  And  He  sent  and  signified  it  by  His  angel  unto  His  servant 
John. 

We  meet  with  a  difficulty  here  from  the  fact,  that  some  of 
these  revelations  were  communicated  by  the  Lord  in  person, 
and  others  by  several  different  angels.  For  the  solution  of 
it  we  may  take  the  word  '  angel '  as  a  noun  of  multitude  in- 
cluding all  those  by  whom  the  disclosures  were  made,  even 
the  Lord  himself,  as  the  great  '  Angel  of  the  covenant '  (Mai. 
iii.  i).  It  is  of  much  more  importance,  however,  to  consider  the 
word  '  signified,'  because  it  expresses  the  symbolical  charac- 
ter of  the  whole  book,  which  claims,  at  the  outset,  a  careful 
examination.  But  here,  and  elsewhere  occasionally,  I  must 
refer  to  a  previous  work  in  which  I  have  attempted  to  show 
that  symbols  are  the  least  inadequate  and  highest  forms  in 
which  the  truths  of  the  spiritual  world  can  be  represented.* 
Indeed,  it  seems  worthy  of  a  m.ore  full  consideration  than  it 
has  ever  yet  received,  that  all  the  religions  of  mankind  have 
sought  to  express  their  deepest  mysteries  in  symbolical 
forms.  The  universality  of  this  fact  is  all  the  evidence  we 
need  that  its  cause  must  lie  deep  in  the  original  principles  of 
human  nature.  It  is  true  that  some  would  account  for  it  by 
the  supposition  of  priestcraft,  seeking  to  veil  its  ideas  in 
order  that  the  power  and  influence  of  superior  knowledge 
might  be  confined  to  the  initiated  ;  nor  can  it  be  denied  that 
symbolical  representations  have  been  perverted  to  serve  this 
base  purpose  ;  but  it  does  not  follow  that  they  have  no  higher 
origin  than  the  knavery  of  priests,  and  no  better  use  than  to 
keep  the  common  people  in  ignorance  and  awe.  For  the 
truth  is,  that  they  originate  spontaneously  from  the  same 
cause  that  gives  birth  to  articulate  speech  and  language  in 
general,  i,  e.  from  the  energy  of  thought,  seeking  to  embody 
itself  to  sense,  that  it  may  communicate  itself  to  other  minds. 
Fulness  of  thought  craves  expression,  and  that,  in  sensuous 
forms.  Ideas  incessantly  strive  after  incarnation.  Being 
constituted  by  a  vital  synthesis  of  a  spiritual  and  a  material 
nature,  we  are  powerfully  affected  by  that  only  which  is  com- 


*  The  Wisdom  of  Holy  Scripture^  xvii. 


REASONS  FOR  THE  STUDY  OF  IT 


5 


posed  of  what  may  be  called  soul  and  body,  substance  and 
form,  spirit  and  letter.  As  body  without  soul,  form  without 
substance,  letter  without  spirit,  is  dead,  in  like  manner,  soul 
without  body,  substance  without  form,  spirit  without  letter, 
is  a  lifeless  abstraction.  In  all  men  there  is  an  instinctive 
feeling  that  mere  ideas  and  abstractions  are  incomplete  and 
almost  powerless  until  they  are  realized  in  sensible  forms. 
Hence  that  striving  to  realize  ideals  which  has  given  us  all 
our  great  works  of  art,  an  Iliad,  a  Phidian  Zeus,  a  Venus  di 
Melo,  an  Apollo  Belvidere,  a  Strasburg  cathedral,  for  these 
are  all  symbols. 

A  symbol,  then,  may  be  comprehensively  defined  as  a  rep- 
resentation of  ideas  to  the  senses,  and  more  narrowly,  to  the 
sight,  which  is  the  noblest  of  the  senses.  Of  the  latter  kind 
are  most  of  the  symbols  of  this  book,  which,  consequently, 
have  a  vividness  and  power  such  as  no  other  forms  of  expres- 
sion can  ever  attain.  But  this  is  a  point  of  such  importance 
to  the  right  understanding  of  these  visions  that  it  requires  to 
be  somewhat  copiously  illustrated. 

It  is  well  known,  then,  that  the  fervid  life  of  the  ancient 
Romans  was  due,  in  great  part,  to  their  genius  for  war  and 
conquest,  which  probably  has  never  been  equalled,  and  cer- 
tainly never  surpassed.  Hence  their  idea  of  virtue  was  ex- 
pressed by  the  word  virtus,  valor,  as  if  this  one  virtue  included 
all  others.  In  fact,  it  was  generally  believed  by  those  iron 
republican^  that  Rome  was  invincible  ;  that  but  one  result 
was  ever  to  be  anticipated  of  the  wars  in  which  she  might  be 
engaged  ;  that  her  enemies  themselves  must  expect  to  be 
conquered  ;  that  other  peoples  in  comparison  were  as  beasts 
made  to  be  subjugated.  Possessed  with  these  ideas,  they 
could  not  fail  to  symbolize  them,  as  they  did,  in  an  immense 
variety  of  visible  forms,  such  as  the  following  :  (i)  The 
place  where  they  gave  audience  to  foreign  ambassadors  who 
came  to  treat  of  war  and  peace  was  the  temple  of  the  god- 
dess of  victory  :  (2)  Immediately  after  their  disastrous  defeat 
by  Hannibal  at  Cannae,  which  brought  the  republic  to  the 
verge  of  ruin,  they  sold  in  the  market-place  at  Rome  for  its 
full  value  the  ground  upon  which  his  victorious  army  was 


6  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

then  encamped  :  (3)  They  sometimes  erected  upon  the 
battle-field  an  immense  structure  in  the  form  of  a  )'oke  for 
beasts  of  burden,  under  which  they  marched  the  conquered 
army,  thus  compelling  them,  as  they  expressed  it,  to  pass 
under  the  yoke.  What  words,  what  bulletins  of  victory, 
could  have  had  anything  like  the  vividness  and  power  of  this 
tremendous  symbol  ! 

As  a  modern  example  we  may  take  the  Russian  coat  cf 
arms  :  a  double-headed  eagle,  a  crown  on  each  head  sur 
mounted  by  another  great  crown,  holding  in  his  talons  a 
globe  and  a  sceptre  under  a  cross,  having  emblazoned  upon 
his  breast  an  armed  and  mounted  warrior.  This  now  is  the 
symbol  of  that  colossal  military  power  of  the  north  which, 
standing  at  the  summit  of  the  two  great  continents  of  the 
earth,  Europe  and  Asia,  looks  down  over  each  of  them  with 
a  crowned  head,  to  signifj'^  that  its  destiny  is  to  rule  both. 
The  two  heads,  looking  in  opposite  directions,  but  meeting 
in  one  body,  the  two  crowns  surmounted  by  the  great  crown, 
and  the  single  sceptre,  denote  that  these  two  divisions  of  the 
earth  are  to  be  consolidated  in  one  empire,  monarchy,  or 
despotism;  the  globe  in  the  eagle's  talons,  that  it  is  ultimately 
to  include  the  whole  world  ;  and  the  cross,  that  Christianity 
is  to  be  its  religion.  The  armed  and  mounted  warrior  repre- 
sents the  Cossack  cavalry,  formerly  the  most  numerous  and 
best  in  the  world,  upon  which  Russia  long  relied  for  the  re- 
alization of  these  sublime  ideas  and  purposes.  This  power- 
ful symbol,  which  has  grown  up  out  of  the  life  of  the  Slavic 
people,  whilst  for  a  long  time  they  have  been  moving  into 
ascendency  among  the  nations,  emblazons  these  ideas  before 
their  eyes,  fires  their  hearts  with  the  corresponding  senti- 
ments, and  thus  exerts  a  mighty  influence  to  mould  their 
national  character.  Hence  it  is  said  that  there  are  few  among 
them  who  do  not  confidently  expect  that  Russia  will  one  day 
become  the  mistress  of  the  world. 

Thus  we  see  that  symbolical  representations  to  the  sense 
of  sight  have  a  vividness,  fulness,  and  power  vastly  superior 
to  all  other  modes  of  expression  ;  and  this  is  the  reason  why 
the  Sacred  Scriptures  are  full  of  them.     Hence  '  the  tree  of 


REASONS  FOR  THE  STUDY  OF  IT  7 

life  and  the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil '  in  the 
garden  of  Eden  ;  also  the  rainbow  designated  as  the  visible 
sign  of  God's  covenant  that  the  world  should  never  again  be 
destroyed  by  a  flood.  Hence,  when  He  would  touch  to  the 
quick  the  heart  of  man,  He  so  often  appeared  in  visible  form, 
as  '  the  Angel  of  the  covenant,'  to  Abraham  and  the  other 
patriarchs,  to  Moses  in  the  burning  bush,  to  the  prophets  in 
their  visions,  and  finally  as  '  the  Man  Christ  Jesus.'  In  like 
manner,  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  Lord  at  His 
baptism  was  symbolized  b)^  a  dove  descending  from  heaven 
and  resting  upon  Him  ;  and  the  same  gift  to  His  disciples 
at  Pentecost  was  represented  by  tongues  of  fire  upon  their 
heads.  Subsequently  also  He  showed  himself  visibly  to  Saul 
of  Tarsus,  when  He  called  that  persecutor  of  the  church  to 
be  one  of  His  apostles,  and  to  His  beloved  disciple  in  the 
visions  of  this  book.  Indeed,  His  true  church  has  continued 
ever  since  to  be  His  visible  body,  a  perpetual  incarnation  of 
Himself  and  of  the  truths  of  His  gospel  ;  for  these  truths, 
wheresoever  the  church  ceases  to  be  a  body  for  their  visible 
manifestation,  are  as  powerless  to  save  the  world  as  the  ideas 
of  Plato,  or  any  other  philosophy.  In  truth,  the  great  object 
of  her  existence  is,  that  she  may  be  a  perpetual  incarnation 
of  the  invisible  and  personal  Word  and  of  all  that  He  has 
taught,  through  which  He  may  manifest  himself  as  life  to  the 
world. 

In  fine,  the  importance  which  He  himself  attaches  to  such 
'  sensible  signs  '  is  evinced  by  the  pains  He  has  taken  to  sym- 
bolize the  most  fundamental  truths  of  His  gospel  in  the  sacra- 
ments of  the  church.  For  Baptism  addresses  itself  to  the  three 
most  important  of  our  senses,  sight,  hearing,  and  feeling  ; 
and  the  washing  with  water  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost  signifies  the  cleansing  of  our  souls  from  the 
defilement  of  sin  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  our  resurrection 
from  death  in  sin  unto  the  new  life  of  holiness  by  the  power 
of  the  Triune  God  in  whose  name  we  are  baptised.  In  the 
Eucharist,  which  addresses  itself  to  all  our  five  senses,  the 
bread  broken  and  the  wine  poured,  being  given  and  received 
as  food  and  drmk,  signify  that  the  Lord  gave  His  body  to  be 


8  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

broken  and  His  blood  to  be  shed  for  us  ;  that,  as  thus  cruci- 
fied for  us,  He  gives  himself  unto  us  ;  that  we  by  faith  re- 
ceive Him  into  our  souls  ;  that,  so  received,  He  becomes  our 
life  -,  and  our  eating  and  drinking  together  at  the  same  table 
signifies  that  we  partake  of  this  life  in  common,  that  we  be- 
long to  one  famil}',  and  are  brothers  and  sisters  to  each  other. 
Now  these  truths  are  the  very  heart  of  His  gospel ;  and  for 
this  reason  obviously  He  took  such  pains  to  symbolize  them 
in  these  holy  ordinances,  in  order  that  they  might  be  kept 
ever  fresh  and  living  in  our  minds  and  hearts,  and  might  be 
in  and  for  us  a  perpetual  life-renewing  power. 

The  preceding  views,  in  which  this  interesting  subject  is 
only  glanced  at,  may  enable  us  to  understand,  in  part  at  least, 
why  our  blessed  Lord  saw  fit  to  embody  in  symbolical  forms, 
and  present  to  the  eye  of  His  servant  John,  to  be  communi- 
cated to  His  church  in  these  wonderful  word-pictures,  the 
truths  of  this  book.  And  the  symbols  themselves  offer  us  one 
of  the  strongest  reasons  we  could  have  to  study  them  with 
prayerful  diligence.  For  unless  we  perceive  something  of 
their  meaning,  they  are  altogether  profitless  ;  but,  being  un- 
derstood, they,  like  the  sacraments,  have  a  quickening  power 
above  all  other  forms  in  vdiich  the  truths  of  the  spiritual 
world  can  be  expressed.  Moreover,  for  the  interest  of  this 
study,  we  have  here  a  wealth  of  symbolism  which,  it  is  safe 
to  say,  is  unrivaled  in  the  literature  of  the  world,  which  far 
surpasses  all  the  other  Scriptures,  although  the  apocalyptic 
visions  of  some  of  the  Old  Testament  prophets  may  fitly  be 
corn-pared  with  it.  Indeed,  it  seems  as  if  there  Avas  hardly 
anything  known  to  man  which  is  not  levied  upon  to  enrich 
the  symbolism  of  this  wonderful  book.  Heaven,  earth,  and 
hell  freely  contribute  to  it.  Sun,  moon,  stars,  sky,  air,  clouds, 
storms,  rain,  snow,  hail,  winds,  the  rainbow,  thunder  and 
lightning  ;  mountains,  wildernesses,  earthquakes,  the  sea  and 
the  creatures  in  it,  islands,  rivers,  streams,  fountains  ;  gold, 
silver,  iron,  stones,  marble,  precious  stones,  ivory,  pearls; 
trees,  leaves,  grass,  vines,  wheat,  barley,  flour,  wine,  oil,  cin- 
namon, frankincense  and  other  spices  ;  horses,  oxen,  sheep, 
lambs,  lions,   leopards,  bears,  serpents,  locusts,  eagles    and 


REASONS  FOR  THE  STUDY  OF  JT  g 

Other  birds  of  prey;  creatures  not  found  in  nature,  but  repre- 
sented for  symbolical  purposes  ;  shepherds,  artizans,  mer- 
chants, merchandise,  ships,  sailors,  chariots,  garments,  linen, 
beds,  books,  girdles,  swords,  bows,  crowns,  measuring  reeds, 
weighing  scales;  cities,  foundations,  walls,  gates,  streets,  tem- 
ples, pillars,  altars,  lamps,  torches;  geometrical  figures,  meas- 
urements, numbers;  colors,  white,  black,  scarlet,  purple,  blue, 
green,  yellow,  pale;  the  human  organism,  head,  hair,  eyes, 
mouth,  breast,  hands  and  feet;  day  and  night,  light  and  dark- 
ness, cold  and  heat,  sacrifice,  blood,  fire,  smoke,  life  and  death; 
man  and  woman,  bridegroom  and  bride,  husband  and  wife, 
parents  and  children;  nations,  tribes,  languages,  kings,  sub- 
jects, citizens:  and  even  this  is  a  very  incomplete  enumeration 
of  the  symbols  by  which  the  Lord  signified  to  His  beloved  dis- 
ciple the  manifold  and  sublime  truths  of  this  wonderful  book. 
Moreover,  the  special  knowledge  which  is  manifested  in 
this  vast  range  of  symbolism  would  seem  to  be  nothing  less 
than  miraculous,  for  no  one  has  ever  pretended  to  detect  an 
error  in  any  of  the  allusions  made  to  these  or  other  objects 
in  nature,  art,  or  life.  With  the  sole  exception  of  'the  part- 
ing asunder  of  the  heaven  and  the  falling  of  the  stars,' 
which,  as  we  shall  see,  may  be  consistently  understood,  all 
things  are  spoken  of  just  as  we  speak  of  them  now  :  and  who 
but  a  skilful  lapidary  could  have  given  such  an  orderly  enu- 
meration of  the  twelve  jewels  in  the  foundation  of  the  New 
Jerusalem  ?  In  this  respect,  no  human  production,  which 
has  anything  like  such  a  vast  range,  can  be  compared  with 
the  Apocalypse.  For  Shakespeare  himself  often  errs  in  his 
allusions  and  statements  for  want  of  special  knowledge,  as, 
e.  g.  where  he  makes  a  gross  fat  man,  who  has  been  thrown 
into  the  water,  say,  "  You  may  know  by  my  size  that  I  have 
a  kind  of  alacrity  in  sinking  ";  whereas  the  fatter  a  man  is, 
the  easier  it  is  for  him  to  float  or  swim.  Now  whatever  view 
we  take  of  the  Scriptures  in  general,  whether  they  speak  of 
natural  objects  with  scientific  rigor,  or  in  loose  popular  lang- 
uage, this  unerring  conformity  of  the  Apocalypse  to  nature 
in  its  allusions  to  such  an  infinite  number  and  variety  of  ob- 
jects must  surely  be  taken  as  one  of  the   many  evidences  of 


jQ  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

that  plenary  inspiration,  even  in  its  words,  which  it  alone,  of 
all  the  books  in  the  Bible,  claims  for  itself.  This,  then,  is 
another  reason  why  it  should  be  carefully  studied. 

2  Who  bare  record  of  the  word  of  God,  and  of  the  testimony  of 
Jesus  Christ,  whatsoever  things  he  saw. 

The  meaning  of  these  somewhat  obscure  expressions  seems 
to  be  :  I  John  have  here  and  throughout  this  book  borne 
faithful  and  true  witness  that  it  is  the  word  of  God,  and 
given  my  testimony  unto  Jesus  Christ,  that  He  did  manifest 
himself  unto  me  as  here  represented,  and  that  I  did  see  what 
I  have  here  recorded  as  seen  by  me  :  in  all  which  we  have  a 
strong  confirmation  of  the  plenary  inspiration  of  the  book, 
and  of  that  reason  for  studying  it. 

3  Blessed  is  he  that  readeth  and  they  that  hear  the  words  of  the 
prophecy,  and  keep  the  things  written  therein,  for  the  time  is  near. 

This  blessing  gives  the  crowning  reason.  It  refers  to  the 
office  of  reader  in  the  primitive  church,  and  to  the  people  as- 
sembled to  hear  the  word,  when  so  few  could  read  for  them- 
selves, and  fewer  still  could  afford  to  own  the  costly  sacred 
manuscripts.  It  is  pronounced  upon  the  reader  and  hearer 
alike,  provided  they  should  keep  the  things  written  in  the 
book  ;  i.  e.  should  receive  them  as  the  word  of  God,  lay 
them  to  heart,  and  live  accordingly  :  for  all  which  a  special 
motive  is  given  in  the  words,  'for  the  time  is  near';  but 
these,  along  with  the  preceding  '  things  which  must  shortly 
come  to  pass,'  are  not  to  be  strictly  taken,  for  it  is  quite 
certain  that  these  unveilings  refer  in  part  to  what  was  then 
present,  :n  part  to  past  events,  and  for  the  most  part  only  to 
the  future  ;  and,  with  respect  to  the  nearness  of  the  time  in 
which  these  last  should  take  place,  since  many  of  them  are 
yet  to  come,  it  must  be  understood  in  that  large  prophetic 
sense  in  which  '  one  day  is  with  the  Lord  as  a  thousand  years, 
and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day'  (2  Pet.  iii.  8). 

It  is  evident,  moreover,  from  this  blessing  upon  the  read- 
ers and  hearers  of  the  book,  that  it  must  be  intelligible  to  all 
earnest  seekers  after  the  truth  of  God  ;  and  such,  I  am  per- 


REASONS  FOR  THE  STUD  Y  OF  IT  n 

suaded,  we  shall  find  it.  For  notwithstanding  its  symbolical 
character,  whence  that  obscurity  of  which  so  many  complain, 
it  is  by  no  means  so  difficult  of  interpretation  as  has  been  com- 
monly supposed.  For  its  leading  symbols,  upon  which  every- 
thing depends,  are  clearly  interpreted  for  us,  either  by  the 
Lord  in  person,  or  by  angels,  or  by  the  Apocalyptist  himself  ; 
and  each  symbol  is  used  throughout  in  one  and  the  same 
fundamental  sense,  with  such  variations  only  as  are  intended 
to  reflect  different  shades  of  the  same  idea,  so  that  their  mean- 
ing, when  obscure,  may  almost  always  be  elicited  by  com- 
parison with  their  use  in  different  connections.  Also,  the 
allusions  to  well  understood  symbols  and  prophecies  in  the 
other  Scriptures  are  so  frequent  and  explanatory  that,  where 
other  means  of  interpretation  fail,  the  sense  may  commonly 
be  drawn  from  them  with  reasonable  certainty.  Hence  I 
venture  to  maintain  that  the  book,  in  its  general  import,  its 
spiritual  aims,  its  grand  moral  ideas,  and  its  outlines  of  the 
providential  history  of  the  church  and  the  world,  is  intelli- 
gible ;  and  I  shall  try  to  show  that  it  can  be  made  exceed- 
ingly interesting  and  edifying  to  the  plainest  readers.  The 
disappointment  which  so  many  experience  arises  in  great 
part  from  their  unreasonable  curiosity.  They  would  know 
for  certain  who  is  antichrist,  when  he  is  to  appear,  when  and 
where  the  great  battle  of  Harmageddon  shall  be  fought, 
why  Satan,  after  having  been  chained  and  locked  up  in 
prison  for  a  thousand  years,  must  be  set  at  liberty  again  to 
deceive  the  nations,  and  when  the  final  consummation  will 
take  place.  But,  with  respect  to  all  such  things,  we  ought 
to  be  deeply  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  our  Lord's  admoni- 
tions :  "  Of  that  day  and  hour  knoweth  no  one,  not  even  the 
angels  of  heaven,  neither  the  Son,  but  the  Father  only 
(Mark  xiii.  32).  It  is  not  for  you  to  know  the  times  or 
seasons,  which  the  Father  hath  set  within  his  own  authority  " 
(Acts  i.  7).  Nor,  indeed,  would  it  have  been  possible  for  us 
to  comprehend  the  forms  and  particulars  of  the  future  if  they 
had  been  ever  so  clearly  revealed,  for  our  minds  are  a  growth, 
and  are  nourished  by  the  experience  of  events  as  they  occur. 
We  can  never  bridge  the  ocean  which  lies  between  us,  at  any 


12  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

given  stage  of  our  progress,  and  the  distant  future,  even  by 
the  aid  of  any  conceivable  revelation.  These  visions  were 
not  intended  to  disclose  what,  from  the  very  nature  of  the 
case,  could  not  be  understood,  nor  to  gratify  any  prurient 
curiosity.  One  whole  series  of  these  revelations  to  St.  John, 
that  of  the  seven  thunders  (Rev.  x,  4),  had  to  be  sealed  up 
from  us,  probably  for  the  reason  that  we  could  not  bear 
it.  We  may  be  sure  that  whatever  in  this  book  was  in- 
tended to  be  plain,  is  plain  ;  and  that  the  blessing  here 
promised  is  attainable  by  all  who  will  seek  it  diligently  with 
an  humble  mind  and  a  prayerful  spirit.  The  substance 
and  spirit  in  these  revelations  are  as  clear  as  in  any  other 
part  of  the  word  of  God  ;  and  it  is  substance  and  spirit  that 
we  need  for  our  spiritual  nourishment  and  growth  in  grace. 
We  ought  not,  therefore,  to  be  deterred  from  this  study  by 
any  obscurity  we  may  meet  with,  nor  by  any  other  cause, 
especially  as  these  disclosures  are  of  such  immense  import- 
ance that  they  cannot  be  neglected  without  immeasurable 
loss.  We  might  as  well  turn  away  our  eyes  from  the  over- 
spreading heavens,  because  we  cannot  measure  nor  weigh 
the  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  nor  determine  their  distances  from 
each  other,  nor  calculate  their  times  and  motions,  though  it 
remains  as  true  now  as  of  old,  for  the  little  child  as  for  the 
astronomer,  that 

The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God  ; 

And  the  firmament  shovveth  His  handy  work  (Ps.  xix.  i). 


II 

GREETING      DOXOLOGY      THEME      I  4-7 

We  come  now  to  the  author's  greeting  to  the  churches, 
followed  by  a  glowing  doxology,  and  by  the  announcement 
of  the  theme  or  subject  of  the  book,  which  is  the  Coming  of 
the  Lord  ;  and  a  declaration  is  appended  as  a  seal  that  it  is 
God  himself  who  makes  this  announcement. 

4  John  to  the  seven  churches  which  are  in  Asia:  Grace  be  unto 
you  and  peace  from  Him  who  is,  and  who  was,  and  who  is  to  come; 
and  from  the  seven  Spirits  who  are  before  His  throne ;  5  and  from 
Jesus  Christ,  the  faithful  witness,  the  firstborn  of  the  dead,  and  the 
prince  of  the  kings  of  the  earth. 

These  churches  will  be  particularly  enumerated  hereafter, 
when  we  shall  see  why  there  were  just  seven  of  them,  and 
with  what  pregnant  significance  the  work  is  inscribed  and 
addressed  to  them.  '  Grace  and  peace  '  include  all  the  bless- 
ings of  the  gospel,  both  temporal  and  spiritual.  They  pro- 
ceed from  Him  who  is  their  original  source,  who  is  and  was 
and  is  to  come,  in  allusion  to  the  great  and  venerable  name, 
Jehovah,  the  meaning  of  which  is  '  I  am  He  who  is '  (Ex.  iii. 
14),  implying  His  eternity,  immutability,  and  all  His  other 
incommunicable  attributes.  In  the  words,  *  who  is  to  come,' 
there  may  be  some  allusion  to  the  theme  of  the  book,  for  we 
shall  find  that  when  the  Lord  is  spoken  of  as  having  already 
come  they  are  omitted. 

But  who  are  these  seven  Spirits  that  are  before  His  throne  ? 
This  question  requires  us  to  give  some  attention  here  to  the 
meaning  of  the  number  seven,  which  occupies  a  very  prom- 
inent place  in  this  book.  For  we  have  seven  golden  candle- 
sticks or  light-bearers,  seven  stars,  seven  churches,  their  seven 
angels,  seven  other  angels,  their  seven  trumpets,  seven  others 
still,  their  seven  golden  vials  or  chalices,  seven  seals,  seven 
thunders,  seven  plagues,  seven  Spirits  of  God,  seven  heads, 

(13) 


14 


WISDOM  OF  THE  AFOCAL  YFSE 


seven  eyes,  seven  horns,  seven  mountains,  seven  kings,  seven 
crowns.  Even  this  enumeration  is  incomplete,  for  the  word 
occurs  about  fifty  times.  Moreover,  the  book  contains  seven 
distinct  series  of  revelations,  and  each  of  these  is  sevenfold, 
although  this  does  not  so  plainly  appear  in  the  last  two  :  (i) 
The  seven  churches,  (2)  the  seven-sealed  book  or  roll,  (3)  the 
seven  trumpets,  (4)  the  seven  thunders,  (5)  the  seven  last 
plagues,  (6)  the  series  commencing  with  Babylon  as  a  harlot, 
(7)  that  of  the  New  Jerusalem.  Hence  some  commentators 
would  interpret  the  work  as  representing  seven  successive 
stages  in  the  history  of  the  church  and  the  world  ;  but  no 
two  of  them  agree  upon  the  events  included  in  these  divisions  ; 
and  thus  the  whole  book  has  become  enveloped  in  such  ob- 
scurity as  upon  this  theory  cannot  be  cleared  up.  But  the 
ablest  expositors  treat  these  different  series  as  often  overlap- 
ping upon  each  other,  and  each  of  them,  except  the  last,  as 
covering  a  great  part  of  this  dispensation,  sometimes,  indeed, 
as  reaching  back  into  the  preceding.  Yet  we  shall  find  that 
there  is  more  or  less  of  succession  and  progress  up  to  the 
crowning  result.  One  thing,  however,  is  evident  from  this 
frequent  use  of  the  number,  namely,  that  it  must  be  under- 
stood with  reference  to  its  well  known  mystical  or  symbolical 
meaning,  which  is  that  of  perfection,  and  as  often  implying 
unity  in  variety. 

Here,  then,  in  the  mysterious  expression,  '  the  seven 
Spirits  who  are  before  His  throne,'  we  need  not  hesitate  to 
recognize  the  symbolical  import  of  this  number,  nor  to  un- 
derstand the  words  as  signifying  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  unity 
of  His  personality  and  in  the  fulness  of  His  manifold  opera- 
tions, i.  e.  in  all  His  perfections.  He  is  represented  as  'before 
the  throne '  apparently  to  denote  that  mysterious  distinction 
between  God  and  His  Spirit  which  runs  through  the  whole 
Scripture,  and  which  we,  in  default  of  a  better  word,  call  one 
of  personality.  Probably,  also,  there  is  here  an  allusion  to 
the  number  seven  of  the  churches  to  which  the  messages  of 
the  Spirit  are  addressed.  This  interpretation  is  abundantly 
confirmed  by  the  following  parallel  passages  :  "  A  Lamb  .  . 
having  seven  horns  aud  seven  eyes,  which  are    the   seven 


GREETING    DO  XO  LOGY     THEME  15 

Spirits  of  God  "  (Rev.  v.  6)  ;  for  what  can  this  mean  but  that 
the  Lamb  possesses  the  fulness  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ?  for  "  God 
giveth  not  the  Spirit  by  measure  [unto  Him]"  (John  iii.  34).  In 
one  of  the  following  Epistles,  also,  it  is  said  :  "  Thus  saith 
He  that  hath  the  seven  Spirits  of  God  "  (Rev.  iii.  1-13)  ;  and 
at  its  close  :  "  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the 
Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches  ";  where  'the  Spirit '  and  'the 
seven  Spirits'  are  evidently  equivalent  expressions. 

The  'grace  and  peace'  are  also  from  'Jesus  Christ,'  which 
evinces  that  the  greeting  is  equivalent  to  the  apostolic  bene- 
diction from  the  Father,  Son,  and  Spirit,  the  triune  source  of 
salvation  and  all  blessings.  Here,  moreover,  the  Lord  is 
called  '  the  faithful  witness,'  or  martyr,  for  the  word  is  the 
same,  in  allusion  to  His  declaration  before  Pilate  :  "  For  this 
was  I  born,  and  for  this  came  I  into  the  world,  that  I  should 
bear  witness  unto  the  truth  "  (John  xix.  37)  ;  to  which  St. 
Paul  refers  in  the  words:  "Jesus  Christ,  who  before  Pontius 
Pilate  witnessed  a  good  confession"  (i  Tim.  vi.  13).  He  is 
also  '  the  firstborn  of  the  dead,'  in  the  sense  of  the  state- 
ment: "Now  is  Christ  risen  from  the  dead,  the  firstfruits  of 
them  that  sleep"  (i  Cor.  xv.  20);  not,  indeed,  as  having  been 
raised  up  the  first  in  time,  but  upon  whose  resurrection  that 
of  His  people  depends.  In  fine.  He  is  called  '  the  prince  of  the 
kings  of  the  earth,'  because,  according  to  the  whole  Script- 
ure, He  is  the  head  of  all  civil  government,  the  Lord  para- 
mount over  the  rulers  of  all  the  nations,  from  whom  all  their 
lawful  powers  are  derived,  which,  therefore,  ought  ever  to 
be  exercised  in  His  name.  We  shall  have  a  large  development 
of  this  idea  in  these  visions,  where  we  shall  see  the  nations 
represented  as  in  rebellion  because  they  do  not  acknowledge 
His  authority,  and  that  His  coming  is  with  great  judgments 
upon  them  for  their  subjugation  to  their  true  allegiance. 

5  Unto  Him  that  loveth  us,  and  hath  wa^ed  us  from  our  sins  in 
His  blood,  6  and  hath  made  us  a  kingdom  [and]  priests  unto  God  and 
His  Father,  unto  Him  be  the  glory  and  the  dominion  forever  and  ever, 
amen. 

This  doxology  ascribes  all  glory  and  dominion  to  the  Lord 
Jesus  on  the  ground  of  His  most  holy  sacrifice,  by  the  blood 


l6  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

or  efficacy  of  which  He  cleanses  us  from  our  sins,  and  on  the 
ground  of  His  love  for  us,  moved  by  which  He  freely  gave 
Himself  to  death  on  our  behalf.  Here,  then,  we  have  the  most 
fundamental  principle  of  the  gospel,  and  we  shall  find  it  con- 
stantly referred  to  and  emphasized  in  all  these  revelations, 
especially  in  the  symbol  of  the  Lamb.  Having  thus  cleansed 
us,  and  loving  us  with  an  inalienable  love,  He  delights  to 
honor  us.  Hence  He  has  made  us  *a  kingdom  '  over  which 
He  reigns,  and  'priests  '  in  the  worship  of  His  Father,  in  ful- 
filment of  the  prophecies  :  "Ye  shall  be  unto  me  a  kingdom 
of  priests  and  a  holy  nation  (Ex.  xix.  6).  Ye  are  a  chosen 
generation,  a  royal  priesthood  .  .  a  holy  priesthood  to  offer 
up  spiritual  sacrifices  "  (i  Pet.  ii.  5-9).  It  agrees  with  the 
past  and  present  tenses  here  used,  that  this  kingdom  has  been 
already  set  up,  rather  than,  as  some  think,  that  it  will  com- 
mence at  the  millennium.  But  the  nature  of  this  kingdom, 
whether  it  be  visible  and  temporal,  or  altogether  spiritual,  is 
much  disputed,  and  we  shall  have  to  examine  this  question 
hereafter.  At  all  events,  it  will  continue  'forever  and  ever,' 
which  words  literally  signify  'unto  the  ages  of  the  ages'; 
but,  since  they  are  here  and  elsewhere  used  to  express  the 
duration  of  the  Lord's  dominion  and  glory,  and  sometimes 
even  that  of  God's  life,  there  is  no  doubt  about  their  meaning. 

7  Behold,  He  cometh  with  clouds,  and  every  eye  shall  see  Him, 
and  they  •who  pierced  Him,  and  all  the  tribes  of  the  earth  shall  mourn 
because  of  Him  ;  even  so,  amen. 

According  to  all  the  interpreters  this  is  the  announcement 
of  the  theme  of  the  book.  The  clouds  with  or  in  which  the 
Lord  is  represented  as  coming,  whether  literal  or  not,  are 
doubtless  the  symbol  of  the  inscrutableness  of  His  judgments 
and  manifestations  of  Himself  : 

Clouds  and  darkness  are  round  about  Him  ; 

Righteousness  and  judgment  are  the  foundation  of  His  throne  (Ps.  xcvii.  2). 

Here  also  it  is  declared  that  this  manifestation  of  Himself 
will  be  universal,  and  the  cause  of  a  universal  mourning,  men 
beating  their  breasts  for  anguish,  for  that  meaning  is  con- 
tained  in   the  word.     Yet  this   mourning:  will   not  be  alto- 


GREETING    DOXOLOGY     THEME 


17 


gether  that  of  obdurate  impenitence  ;  in  part,  at  least, 
it  will  be  a  gracious  and  penitential  sorrow,  as  in  the 
prophecy  alluded  to  :  "I  will  pour  upon  the  house  of  David, 
and  upon  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  the  Spirit  of  grace  and 
of  supplication,  and  they  shall  look  unto  me  whom  they  have 
pierced,  and  they  shall  mourn  for  Him,  as  one  mourneth  for 
his  only  son,  and  shall  be  in  bitterness  for  Him,  as  one  is  in 
bitterness  for  his  firstborn  "  (Zech.  xii.  10).  As  for  the  finally 
impenitent,  who,  in  the  Lord's  parables,  are  the  goats  on  His 
left  hand,  the  foolish  virgins,  the  tares  among  the  wheat,  the 
wayside  thorny  and  stony  ground  hearers  of  the  word,  who, 
by  the  sun  of  His  coming,  which  quickens  the  seed  in  the 
good  ground,  are  scorched  and  withered,  their  mourning 
must  needs  be  *  the  sorrow  of  the  world  that  worketh  death  ' 
(2  Cor.  vii.  10).  '  Even  so,  amen.'  It  is  most  just  and  right 
that  it  should  be  so  ;  for  it  would  not  be  right  that  the  grace 
and  mercy  of  the  Lord  should  be  forever  rejected  and  de- 
spised, that  His  blood  should  be  forever  trampled  on,  that 
despite  should  be  forever  done  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  all 
this  with  impunity. 

But,  now,  whether  the  Lord's  Coming  is  to  be  understood 
as  personal  and  visible,  or  invisible  and  spiritual  ;  whether 
it  will  precede  or  follow  the  millennium  :  to  establish  H's 
kingdom  on  earth,  or  to  judge  the  world  at  the  last  day  ; 
whether  it  is  one  particular  manifestation,  or  includes  a 
series  or  succession  of  events  :  upon  these  points  there  is 
great  diversity  of  opinion.  Those  who  hold  to  one  personal 
and  visible  advent  previous  to  the  millennium  make  a  strong 
case  from  the  prophecies  on  the  subject :  "  I  saw  in  the  night 
visions,  and,  behold,  one  like  unto'the  Son  of  Man  came  with 
the  clouds  of  heaven.  .  .  .  And  there  was  given  unto  Him 
dominion  and  glory  and  a  kingdom,  that  all  the  peoples,  na- 
tions, and  languages  should  serve  Him  (Dan.  vii.  13-14). 
Then  shall  appear  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  Man  in  heaven,  and 
then  shall  all  the  tribes  of  the  earth  mourn,  when  they  shall 
see  the  Son  of  Man  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven  with 
power  and  great  glory  (Mat.  xxiv.  30).  This  Jesus,  who 
has  been  received  up  into  heaven,  shall  so  come  in  like  man- 


I  8  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

ner  as  ye  have  beheld  Him  going  into  heaven  (Acts  i.  ii). 
Ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  Man  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of 
power,  and  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven  "  (Mat.  xxvi.  64). 
These  are  only  a  few  of  a  great  many  prophecies,  from  which 
it  is  claimed  that  the  future  coming  of  the  Lord  will  be  per- 
sonal, visible,  and  pre-millennial. 

But  this  interpretation  is  encumbered  with  very  great  diffi- 
culties, and  such  as  constrain  other  interpreters,  more  nu- 
merous and,  to  say  the  least,  of  equal  ability,  to  maintain  that 
"Christ  is  said  to  come  in  the  clouds  as  often  as  He  mani- 
fests His  glory  and  majesty  in  extraordinary  effects  of  His 
grace,  severity,  and  power,  and  shows  Himself  as  present  to 
His  church."  This  comprehensive  view,  it  is  claimed,  con- 
forms to  the  analogy  of  other  prophetic  deliverances,  where 
one  prediction  includes  a  succession  of  events,  as  in  the 
words  of  God  to  Moses  :  "  I  will  raise  them  up  a  prophet 
from  among  their  brethren  like  unto  thee,  and  I  will  put  my 
words  in  his  mouth,  and  he  shall  speak  unto  them  all  that  I 
shall  command  him  "  (Deut.  xviii.  t8).  For  this  prediction 
began  to  be  fulfilled  in  the  next  prophet  after  Moses,  and  it 
ran  on  to  a  more  and  more  complete  fulfilment  in  every  one 
that  followed,  whom  God  raised  up  in  Israel  during  1500 
years,  until  it  culminated  in  Christ,  of  whom,  in  allusion  to  it, 
the  people  said  :  "  Of  a  truth  this  is  the  prophet  that  cometh 
into  the  world  "  (John  vi.  14).  It  is  maintained,  also,  that 
this  view  is  the  only  one  that  is  consistent  with  many  dec- 
larations concerning  the  Lord's  coming,  which  are  quite 
as  explicit  as  any  that  can  be  cited  on  the  other  side,  and 
which  cannot  be  otherwise  understood  than  as  referring  to  a 
series  of  events  in  which  He  does  not  personally  or  visibly 
appear.  For  both  He  and  His  disciples  speak  of  it  as  if  it 
included  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the  end  of  the 
world,  as  where  they  called  His  attention  to  the  magnifi- 
cence and  beauty  of  the  temple,  and  He  answered  them  : 
"  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  there  shall  not  be  left  here  one  stone 
upon  another  that  shall  not  be  thrown  down";  whereupon 
they  said  :  "  Tell  us  when  these  things  shall  be,  and  what 
shall  be  the  sign  of  thy  coming,  and  of  the  end  of  the  world  " 


GREETING    D  0X0  LOGY     THEME 


19 


(Mat.  xxiv.  2-3).  In  like  manner,  He  refers  to  the  gift  of  His 
Spirit  at  Pentecost  as  a  form  of  His  coming  :  "  I  will  pray 
the  Father,  and  He  will  give  you  another  Comforter,  that 
He  may  be  with  you  forever,  even  the  Spirit  of  truth.  ...  I 
will  not  leave  you  comfortless,  I  will  come  to  you  "  (John  xiv. 
16-18).  In  the  same  way  He  seems  to  speak  of  our  depart- 
ure out  of  this  life  :  "  In  my  Father's  house  are  many  man- 
sions. .  .  .  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you:  and  .  .  I  will  come 
again,  and  take  you  unto  myself,  that  where  I  am  ye  may  be 
also  "  (xiv.  2-3)  ;  in  connection  with  which  we  should  recall 
His  words  to  the  dying  thief:  "To-day  shalt  thou  be  with 
me  in  Paradise  "  (Luke  xxiii.  43).  Moreover,  this  idea  seems 
to  be  contained  in  His  repeated  admonitions  to  be  ever  on 
the  watch  for  His  coming  :  "  Be  ye  also  ready,  for  in  such  an 
hour  as  ye  think  not  the  Son  of  Man  cometh  (Mat.  xxiv.  42). 
Watch,  therefore,  for  ye  know  neither  the  day  nor  the 
hour  "  (Mat.  xxv.  13).  For  these  admonitions,  as  referring  to 
our  decease,  have  the  greatest  pertinency  and  force,  but,  as 
having  in  view  exclusively  His  coming  at  the  millennium,  or 
the  end  of  the  world,  they  seem  to  be  nearly  pointless,  and 
even  misleading  ;  for  with  v/hat  simplicity,  or  even  sincerity/, 
could  He  tell  His  disciples  to  be  always  in  expectation  of 
that  which  was  not  to  take  place  for  thousands  of  years  ? 
Besides,  when  asked  by  the  Pharisees,  when  the  kingdom  of 
God  should  come.  He  answered  :  "  The  kingdom  of  God 
cometh  not  with  observation,  neither  shall  they  say,  Lo  here, 
or  there,  for,  lo,  the  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you  "  (Luke  xvii. 
20-21).  Finally,  He  declared  several  times  that  His  coming 
should  take  place  in  the  lifetime  of  some  who  heard  Him  : 
"Verily  I  say  unto  you,  there  be  some  of  them  that  stand 
here  who  shall  not  taste  of  death  till  they  see  the  Son  of 
Man  coming  in  His  kingdom  (Mat.  xvii.  28).  This  generation 
shall  not  pass  away  till  all  tliese  things  be  accomplished  " 
(Mat.  xxiv.  14).  In  view  of  all  this,  and  of  much  that  will  ap- 
pear in  the  sequel,  it  seems  plain  to  me  that  the  Coming  of 
the  Lord  must  be  taken  as  a  sj'mbolical  expression  including 
a  series  or  succession  of  events,  in  which  He  manifests  His 
power  and  glory,  but  does  not  always  personally  or  visibly 


20  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

appear:  which,  however,  may  be  crowned  at  last  by  one  grand 
event  in  which  He  may  appear  in  person,  and  literally  '  every 
eye  shall  see  Him.'  But  whether  this  manifestation  will 
precede  or  follow  the  millennium,  must  be  left  for  future 
consideration. 

This  comprehensive  view  seems  quite  natural  when  we 
understand  upon  what  principle  these  diverse  events  are  thus 
grouped  together,  and  included  under  one  and  the  same  ex- 
pression. For  there  is  a  common  element  running  through 
them  all,  which  is  nothing  less  than  the  judgment  of  God 
upon  the  evil  that  is  in  the  world,  in  consequence  of  which 
one  of  them  often  becomes  a  type  of  another.  Hence  the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem,  in  which  so  many  perished  amidst 
unparalleled  horrors,  became  a  grand  historic  type  of  the  end 
of  the  world,  and  of  the  fate  of  the  wicked  when  their  day  of 
grace  shall  come  to  an  end.  The  element  of  judgment  is  con- 
tained also  in  the  death  of  every  individual,  inasmuch  as 
'death  came  into  the  world  by  sin,  and  so  death  passed  upon 
all  men,  for  that  all  have  sinned  '  (Rom.  v.  12).  In  like  man- 
ner, the  coming  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  always  with  judgment, 
as  in  the  Lord's  words:  "When  He  is  come,  He  will  convict 
the  world  of  sin,  of  justice,  and  of  judgment"  (John  xvi.  8). 
The  final  coming  of  the  Lord,  as  all  understand,  will  be  at 
the  judgment  of  the  great  day,  when  all  the  dead  shall  stand 
before  His  'great  white  throne,'  and  receive  'according  to 
their  works  '  (Rev.  xx.  11-15). 

For  these  reasons,  and  others  which  will  be  given  here- 
after, I  understand  the  theme  of  this  book,  here  enunciated 
as  the  Coming  of  the  Lord,  to  include  His  manifestations  of 
Himself  throughout  the  whole  of  this  dispensation,  in  great 
judgments  upon  the  evil  that  is  in  the  world,  and  in  great 
works  of  grace  and  salvation,  such  as  those  which  we  call 
revivals  of  religion  :  especially  because,  with  this  understand- 
ing, and  not  without  it,  I  can  feel  the  force  of  those  frequent 
admonitions  which  are  given  us  to  be  always  '  ready,  waiting, 
looking,  watching,  praying  for,  loving,  and  hastening  unto. 
His  appearing.'  Thus  also  we  shall  find,  as  surely  we  ought, 
the  subject  of  the  book  in  every  part  of  it,  and  not  fall  into 


GREETING    D  0X0  LOGY     THEME  2 1 

the  inconsistency  of  those  who  do  not  find  it  anywhere  ex- 
cept in  the  closing  visions. 

Such  being  the  theme  of  the  book,  it  is  developed  under 
twofold  general  and  special  relations:  on  the  one  hand,  to 
the  Lord  and  His  kingdom,  its  friends  and  supporters,  the 
unfallen  angels,  the  church  and  redeemed  people  of  God;  on 
the  other,  to  Satan  and  his  kingdom,  the  fallen  angels,  rebel- 
lious nations,  kingdoms,  governments,  and  ungodly  sinners 
of  mankind.  Hence  the  work  has  a  highly  dramatic  character, 
representing  that  mysterious  and  awful  conflict  which  has 
raged  from  time  immemorial  between  the  powers  of  good  and 
evil  both  in  the  natural  and  spiritual  worlds.  Out  of  these 
complex  relations,  moreover,  the  subject  is  evolved,  if  I  may 
so  speak,  with  unrivaled  vividness  and  power.  Hence  we  have 
scenes  in  heaven,  where  we  behold  the  celestial  Intelligences 
engaged  in  the  worship  and  service  of  God,  animated,  at  the 
same  time,  with  the  liveliest  interest  and  sympathy  for  the 
church  on  earth  and  her  persecuted  people,  whom  they  watch 
over  and  protect,  inflicting  the  most  appalling  judgments 
upon  their  enemies  and  persecutors.  In  other  scenes,  Satan  and 
his  angels  are  brought  into  view,  exerting  all  their  tremen- 
dous malignity  and  power  to  overwhelm  and  destroy  the  saints. 
But,  although  permitted  to  bring  upon  them  dire  temptations 
and  afflictions,  yet,  through  the  watchfulness  and  interposition 
of  the  heavenly  powers,  they  never  succeed;  their  subtlety  and 
malice  are  always  frustrated,  and  made  to  return  upon  their 
own  heads,  until  they  are  finally  routed,  driven  off  the  field, 
and  shut  up  in  hell.  In  still  other  scenes,  the  nations  and 
their  rulers  come  into  conflict  with  the  Lord  and  His  saints, 
in  which  they  also  are  defeated,  and  made  partakers  of  the 
judgments  and  punishment  of  the  spiritual  world  of  evil  with 
which  they  have  identified  themselves.  And  the  sacred  drama 
reaches  its  denouement  when  the  Lord's  people,  having  been 
purified  by  the  fiery  sea  of  trials  through  which  they  have 
passed,  enter  into  '  the  city  which  hath  the  foundations,  whose 
architect  and  builder  is  God  '  (Heb.  xi.  10),  where  He  wipes 
away  every  tear  from  their  eyes,  and  they  rejoice  forever  in 
the  presence  of  their  all-conquering  King  and  Saviour. 


22  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

In  fine,  there  are  few  passages,  even  in  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
which  for  sublimity  and  grandeur  can  be  compared  with 
these  revelations  concerning  the  Lord's  coming.  One  of  these 
is  the  account  of  the  creation,  of  the  innocence,  sin,  and  fall 
of  man,  and  therein  of  the  origin  of  evil  in  this  world. 
Another  is  the  history  of  the  incarnation,  life,  sufferings,  and 
death  of  Jesus  Christ:  His  eternal  purpose  to  save  sinners  by 
the  sacrifice  of  Himself  ;  His  leaving  'the  glory  which  He  had 
with  the  Father  before  the  world  was'  (John  xvii.  5);  His 
birth  of  a  virgin;  His  meekness  and  resignation;  His  prayer 
on  the  cross  for  His  murderers;  His  cry  of  spiritual  desola- 
tion, which  darkened  the  sun,  and  caused  the  earth  to  trem- 
ble through  all  her  marble  bones;  His  last  words  of  faith 
and,  trust :  "  Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit " 
(Luke  xxiii.  46):  in  all  history  there  is  no  sublimity  equal  to 
this^  unless  it  be  in  these  unveilings  of  heaven,  earth,  and 
hell  which  are  given  us  in  the  Apocalypse  of  St.  John  the 
Divine. 

8  I  am  the  Alpha  and  the  Omega,  saith  the  Lord  God,  who  is,  and 
who  was,  and  who  is  to  come,  the  Almighty. 

In  the  English  Bible  we  have  also  'the  beginning  and  the 
ending,'  but  this  clause  is  not  found  in  the  best  manuscripts  ; 
yet  it  properly  represents  the  true  sense,  for  alpha  and  omega 
are  the  first  and  last  letters  of  the  Greek  alphabet,  between 
whieh,  of  course,  all  the  others  are  included  ;  consequently 
they  represent  the  whole.  There  was  a  similar  use  of  the  first 
and  last  of  the  Hebrew  letters,  which  may  have  originated 
in  the  conception  of  writing  as  containing  all  knowledge  and 
wisdom,  especially  the  whole  truth  of  divine  revelation. 
Hence  we  may  understand  the  expression,  here  applied  to 
God,  as  signifying  that  He  is  the  source  from  which  all  things 
originate,  and  the  end  in  which  they  terminate,  in  the  sense 
of  the  words  :  "  He  is  before  all  things,  and  in  Him  all  things 
consist  (Col.  i.  17).  In  Him  we  live  and  move  and  have  our 
being"  (Acts  xvii.  28).  The  meaning  of  'who  is  and  was 
and  is  to  come  '  has  been  given  (h)-*    Among  the  incommuni- 

"  /'5 

*  Such  references  are  to  preceding  pages  of  the  book. 


GREETING    DO XO LOGY     THEME 


23 


cable  attributes  of  God,  that  one  which  is  expressed  by  '  the 
Almighty'  is  here  selected  for  emphasis.  The  Greek  word 
which  is  so  rendered  signifies  by  its  etymology  '  the  All- 
Ruler,'  and  in  the  Septuagint  it  is  used  as  equivalent  both  to 
*the  Lord  of  hosts'  and  to  'the  Almighty.'  There  can  be  no 
doubt  but  that  it  is  intended  to  include  both  these  ideas 
here,  i.  e.  omnipotence  and  universal  dominion.  He  who 
speaks  these  words,  which  seem  to  be  appended  as  a  sort  of 
seal  to  the  preceding  announcement  concerning  the  Lord's 
coming,  to  give  the  strongest  assurance  that  the  prophecy 
shall  be  fulfilled,  is  simply 'the  Lord  God,  the  Almio;hty,' 
without  reference  to  any  distinction  of  persons  :  but  as  they 
are  subsequently  applied  to  Himself  by  the  Lord  Christ  (Rev. 
xxii.  13)  He  may  properly  be  understood  as  here  claiming 
this  universal  dominion,  and  as  asserting  His  power  to  estab- 
lish and  maintain  it,  in  accordance  with  a  declaration  of  His 
elsewhere:  "All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in 
earth"  (Mat.  xxviii.  18). 

In  conclusion,  the  Coming  of  the  Lord,  as  here  announced, 
was  regarded  by  the  apostles  and  early  Christians  as  the 
great  hope  of  the  church.  For  they  are  represented  as 
*  looking  for  the  blessed  hope,  even  the  glorious  appearing 
of  the  great  God  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ'  (Tit.  ii.  13)  ; 
and  elsewhere,  as  we  have  seen  (20),  their  state  of  mind  is  de- 
scribed by  many  similar  expressions.  This  hope  seems  to 
have  too  little  place  in  the  Christian  experience  of  our  time. 
We  must  try  to  recover  it,  for  which  we  shall  find  abundant 
reasons  in  these  visions,  closing  with  the  words  :  "  I  come 
quickly.    Amen,  come,  Lord  Jesus." 


Ill 

PATMOS     ECSTATIC  VISION    THE  SEVEN  CHURCHES      I  9-I  T 

Immediately  after  the  announcement  of  his  subject,  we 
have  the  account  which  the  author  gives  of  himself,  of  the 
place  where,  and  of  the  state  of  mind  in  which,  he  received 
these  visions  ;  also,  of  a  command  given  him  to  write  them 
down,  and  send  them  to  seven  particular  churches.  In  this 
brief  record  we  shall  find  several  very  interesting  and  signifi- 
cant statements. 

9  I  John,  your  brother  and  companion  in  the  tribulation  and  king- 
dom and  patience  in  Jesus,  was  in  the  isle  that  is  called  Patmos,  for 
the  w^ord  of  God  and  the  testimony  of  Jesus. 

In  these  words  he  addresses  himself  to  the  readers  and 
hearers  of  his  book,  upon  whom  his  blessing  has  just  been 
pronounced,  as  their  brother  and  fellow-partaker  in  the  trib- 
ulation and  kingdom  and  patience  which  came  to  them  from 
their  being  'in  Jesus,'  as  the  branches  are  in  the  vine  (John 
XV.  1-6),  in  order  to  awaken  their  sympathy  and  interest,  and 
to  confirm  them  in  the  patient  endurance  of  the  trials  through 
which  they  were  passing  to  the  glories  of  the  coming  king- 
dom. 

The  island  to  which  he  had  been  banished,  as  he  here 
seems  to  intimate,  for  his  fidelity  in  witness-bearing  to  the 
word  of  God  and  to  his  divine  Master,  still  bears  the  name 
of  Patmo,  being  situated  near  the  coast  of  Greece  in  what 
was  anciently  called  the  Icarian  sea.  Probably  it  had  been 
selected  as  the  place  of  his  banishment  because  it  was  small, 
rough,  and  desolate,  though  now  it  contains  4  or  5000  inhabit- 
ants. It  has  a  Greek  church,  and  an  old  monastery,  sup- 
posed to  have  been  built  by  one  of  the  Christian  emperors  of 
Constantinople,  called  the  Monastery  of  St.  John  the  Divine, 
whose  library  is  said  to  contain  many  ancient  and  valuable 
(24) 


FA  TMOS 


25 


manuscripts.  About  half  way  up  the  highest  mountain  on 
the  island  there  is  a  cave  which  an  ancient  tradition  not  im- 
probably designates  as  the  abode  of  the  Seer  whilst  he  re- 
ceived these  revelations.  At  this  time,  about  the  year  95  or 
96  of  the  Christian  era,  25  or  26  years  after  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem,  he  must  have  been  80  or  90  years  old.  Domitian, 
who  was  then  upon  the  throne  of  the  Roman  empire,  was  a 
very  corrupt  and  abandoned  character,  distinguished,  even 
among  the  emperors  of  those  times,  for  his  wanton  cruelty. 
In  his  reign  a  fierce  and  bloody  persecution  raged  against 
the  Christians,  which,  however,  had  commenced  before  under 
the  insane  Nero,  when  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  obtained  their 
martyr-crowns.  It  was  near  the  close  of  Domitian's  reign 
that  St.  John  was  banished  to  Patmos,  where  he  seems  to 
have  remained  only  a  short  time,  probably  not  more  than  a 
year,  for  he  was  set  at  liberty  when  that  tyrant  was  assassin- 
ated in  the  year  96.  The  account  of  his  banishment  which 
has  come  down  to  us  is  as  follows  :  "The  apostle  John  was 
apprehended  by  the  Proconsul  of  Asia,  and  sent  to  Rome, 
where  he  was  miraculously  preserved  from  death  when 
thrown  into  a  cauldron  of  boiling  oil.  The  idolaters,  who 
pretended  to  account  for  such  miracles  by  sorcery,  blinded 
themselves  to  this  evidence,  and  the  tyrant  Domitian  banished 
John  to  the  island  of  Patmos,  one  of  the  Sporades,  where  he 
was  favored  with  those  heavenly  visions  which  he  has  recorded 
in  the  Apocalypse."  This  is  related  by  Tertullian,  a  very 
eloquent,  learned,  and  pious  man,  who  lived  in  the  second 
century,  near  enough  to  the  time  to  be  perfectly  acquainted 
with  all  the  circumstances  ;  nor  do  we  know  anything  incon- 
sistent with  its  literal  truth  ;  also,  it  may  be  regarded  as  the 
more  probable,  because  there  must  have  been  some  reason 
why  St.  John  was  banished,  instead  of  being  put  to  death,  as 
were  his  fellow-apostles,  and  this  reason  may  have  been  his 
miraculous  preservation  as  here  related.  For  we  may  be  sure 
that  no  human  power,  nor  any  property  of  matter,  nor  any 
force  of  nature,  could  avail  to  destroy  his  life  until  he  had 
received,  and  had  communicated  to  the  church,  these  wonder- 
ful revelations. 
2 


26  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

10  I  was  in  tfrft»Spirit  on  the  Lord's  Day :  and  I  heard  behind  me  a 
great  voice,  as  of  a  trumpet,  ii  saying,  What  thou  seest  write  in  a 
book,  and  send  it  to  the  seven  churches  :  unto  Ephesus,  and  unto 
Smyrna,  and  unto  Pergamus,  and  unto  Thyatira,  and  unto  Sardis,  and 
unto  Philadelphia,  and  unto  Laodicea. 

*  The  Lord's  Day  '  occurs  nowhere  else  in  Scripture,  but  we 
have  the  best  of  reasons  for  understanding  the  expression  as 
designating  the  first  day  of  the  week,  upon  w^hich  our  Lord 
rose  from  the  dead,  in  consequence  of  which  it  became  the 
Christian  Sabbath.*  It  may  properly  be  called  Sunday,  as 
the  day  of  celestial  radiance. 

But  what  does  our  Seer  mean  by  his  being  'in  the  Spirit ' 
on  that  day  ;  in  which  state  he  seems  to  have  been  w^hile  all 
these  visions  were  made  to  pass  before  his  interior  faculties  ? 
In  answer  to  this  question,  we  may  observe  that  the  word 
anaraai'i;  ecstasy,  which  in  the  New  Testament  is  commonly 
used  to  express  this  mental  state,  signifies  a  standing  out  of 
one's  self,  or  as  we  say,  being  in  a  transport.  It  is  of  fre- 
quent occurrence,  being  mostly  rendered  by  the  word  *  trance.' 
Thus  it  is  said  that  St.  Peter  'fell  into  a  trance  '  (Acts  x.  lo), 
or,  more  precisely,  *  an  ecstasy  fell  upon  him,'  when  he  saw 
the  vision  concerning  the  centurion  Cornelius.  Speaking  of 
it  himself  he  says,  'In  an  ecstasy  I  saw  a  vision  '  (xi.  5).  St. 
Paul  also  expresses  himself  in  a  similar  manner,  saying, 
'  Whilst  I  prayed  in  the  temple,  I  was  in  an  ecstasy  '  (xxii.  17)  ; 
and  he  describes  another  such  rapture  in  the  words  :  "  I  knew 
a  man  in  Christ  .  .  whether  in  the  body  .  .  or  out  of  the 
body,  I  cannot  tell,  God  knoweth,  such  a  one  caught  up 
into  the  third  heaven  .  ,  into  Paradise  ;  and  he  heard  un- 
speakable things,  which  it  is  not  lawful  for  man  to  utter" 
(2  Cor.  ii.  24).  We  have  many  examples  of  this  spiritual 
rapture  in  the  Old  Testament  prophets,  who  describe  it  as 
'  the  Spirit  of  God  coming  upon  them,'  as  their  'being  in  the 
Spirit  of  God,'  and  '  in  the  visions  of  God.'  It  seems  to  have 
been  common  also  in  apostolic  times,  and  not  unknown  in 


*For  the  evidence  that  it  is  truly  the  Sabbath,  see   IVisdom  of  Holy  Scripture^ 
xiii. 


ECSTATIC  VISION  27 

the  subsequent  history  of  the  church,  according  to  the 
prophecy  cited  by  St.  Peter  to  account  for  the  wonderful 
phenomena  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  :  "  This  is  that  which  was 
spoken  of  by  the  prophet  Joel  :  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in 
the  last  days,  saith  God,  I  will  pour  out  of  my  Spirit  upon  all 
flesh  ;  and  your  sons  and  your  daughters  shall  prophesy,  and 
your  young  men  shall  see  visions,  and  your  old  men  shall 
dream  dreams  ;  yea,  and  upon  my  servants  and  upon  my 
handmaidens  in  those  days  will  I  pour  out  of  my  Spirit,  and 
they  shall  prophesy"  (Acts  ii.  17-18).  Even  in  our  own 
times  it  has  been  known  to  occur  (and  why  not  ?)  especially 
in  the  death-bed  experiences  of  God's  dear  saints.  I  have 
known  several  instances  of  it,  resting  upon  the  faithful  testi- 
mony of  those  who  were  just  about  to  depart  out  of  this  life. 
Nor  should  such  things  be  deemed  incredible.  For  as  the 
powers  and  functions  of  the  natural  life  grow  weak  ;  as  the 
ties  which  bind  the  soul  to  earth  are  sundered;  why  should 
it  be  thought  incredible  that  the  veil  of  sense,  which  hangs 
before  the  spiritual  world,  should  be  withdrawn  ;  that  things 
at  other  times  invisible  should  become  visible  to  our  interior 
faculties  ;  that  heaven  should  be  opened,  as  it  were,  and  the 
rapt  spirit  should  long  to  soar  away  to  the  arms  of  her  Saviour 
and  to  her  celestial  glories  ?  For  this  is  the  experience  which 
is  so  finely  described  in  the  well  known  hymn,  entitled  The 
Dying  Christian,  although  the  author  could  hardly  have  had 
any  other  than  a  poetical  knowledge  of  it : 

Hark,  they  whisper,  angels  say, 
Sister  spirit,  come  away. 
What  is  this  absorbs  me  quite, 
Steals  my  senses,  shuts  my  sight, 
Drowns  my  spirit,  stops  my  breath  ? 
Tell  me,  my  soul,  can  this  be  death  ? 
The  world  recedes,  it  disappears, 
Heaven  opens  on  my  eyes,  my  ears 
With  sounds  seraphic  ring. 
Lend,  lend  your  win^rs,  I  mount,  I  fly ; 
O  Grave,  where  is  thy  victory  ? 
O  Death,  where  is  thy  sting  ? 

Thus  we   may  comprehend,  in  some  sort,  what  our  Seer 
means  by  his  being  *  in  the  Spirit,'  when  he  saw  these  visions, 


28  'VISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

as  if  he  had  said  :  The  Spirit  of  God  was  upon  me  ;  I  was  in 
a  tiansport;  my  bodily  senses  were  closed  up;  with  my 
natural  eyes  I  saw  nothing  ;  with  my  natural  ears  I  heard 
nothing  ;  but  my  interior  faculties  were  opened  and  quick- 
ened ;  with  the  eyes  and  the  ears  of  my  spirit  I  saw  and 
heard  wonderful  things,  even  these  transactions  in  the 
spiritual  world  of  which  I  here  bear  record.  And  thus  we 
may  comprehend  the  mental  state  of  the  prophets  and  apos- 
tles, when  they  received  their  communications  from  God, 
which  can  hardly  fail  to  be  a  great  aid  to  our  faith.  For 
when  we  understand  something  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
spiritual  world  was  laid  open  to  them  ;  that  it  was  by  their 
natural  faculties  being  put  in  abeyance  for  the  time,  and  their 
spiritual  faculties  quickened  by  the  Spirit  of  God  working 
in  them  ;  it  seems  no  longer  surprising  that  they  were  en- 
abled to  give  us  such  wonderful  disclosures  of  the  invisible 
world  and  of  future  events  ;  nor  that  they  should  deliver 
them  with  such  unwavering  assurance.  For  their  word  in 
all  their  deliverances  is,  '  Thus  saith  the  Lord.'  Their 
tongues  never  falter,  their  trumpets  give  no  uncertain  sound, 
even  in  their  predictions  of  events  thousands  of  years  in  the 
future,  and  contrary  to  all  human  probability  :  predictions 
such  as  no  men  in  their  senses,  without  the  consciousness 
of  supernatural  enlightenment,  would  ever  have  dared  to 
hazard,  and  which,  if  they  had  not  been  inspired  of  God, 
would  never  have  been  fulfilled. 

The  Seer  does  not  inform  us  whose  voice  this  was,  which 
he  heard  '■  as  a  trumpet,'  yet  evidently  it  spoke  with  divine 
authority.  But  the  fact,  that  it  was  heard  behind  him,  taken 
in  connection  with  a  passage  in  one  of  the  prophets,  '  Thine 
ear  shall  hear  a  word  behind  thee,  saying,  This  is  the  way, 
walk  ye  in  it'  (Is.  xxx.  21),  can  hardly  be  without  signifi- 
cance, especially  as  it  is  subsequently  emphasized  by  his 
twice  telling  us  that  it  caused  him  to  turn  round.  Probably 
it  was  intended  to  represent  the  unexpected  manner  in  which 
the  Lord  often  manifests  Himself,  and  that  His  revelations 
are  such  that  they  cannot  be  anticipated,  on  account  of  the 
inscrutableness  of  His  wisdom,  because  '  His  ways  are  not 


ECSTATIC  VISION  20 

our  ways,  nor  His  thoughts  our  thoughts  '  (Is.  Iv.  8).  Hence 
He  has  given  us  many  examples  of  such  epiphanies,  as  when 
He  appeared  to  Abram  at  the  sacrifice  of  Isaac,  to  Hagar  in 
the  wilderness,  to  Moses  in  the  burning  bush,  to  the  parents 
of  Samson,  to  the  child  Samuel,  to  Mary  Magdalene  on  the 
morning  of  His  resurrection,  and  to  Saul  of  Tarsus  on  his 
journey  to  Damascus-  By  their  frequency  we  are  divinely 
admonished  to  hold  ourselves  always  in  readiness  to  receive 
His  communications  in  unanticipated  and  surprising  forms, 
and  never  to  predetermine  in  our  minds  with  what  instruc- 
tions He  shall  reveal  His  will  or  Himself  to  us.  For  such  pre- 
determinations are  always  irrational  and  often  fatal.  It  was 
precisely  in  this  way  that  the  Jews  were  led  to  reject  and 
crucify  Him.  For  they  had  predetermined  that  He  should 
come  as  a  conquering  king,  with  outward  pomp  and  circum- 
stance, and  should  exalt  them  to  temporal  dominion  over 
their  enemies  ;  and  when  He  came  as  a  meek  and  lov/ly  Sav- 
iour, whose  kingdom  was  not  of  this  world,  it  was  a  foregone 
conclusion  that  they  would  not  recognize  Him.  Hence  'X  is 
to  be  feared  that  they  who,  in  like  manner,  have  settled  it 
in  their  minds  that  His  future  coming  shall  be  '  with  observa- 
tion,' with  outward  manifestations  of  His  glory,  to  bestow 
upon  His  saints  the  temporal  dominion  of  the  earth,  will,  if 
it  prove  otherwise,  be  unable  to  recognize  Him.  It  is  never 
safe  to  hold  opinions  as  to  the  forms  and  particulars  of  the 
distant  future  otherwise  than  provisionally,  liable  to  be  mod- 
ified and  completely  overturned  by  the  events  when  they 
shall  come  to  pass.  And  we  may  be  quite  sure  that  the  voice 
of  divine  instruction  and  guidance,  whether  by  enlightening 
our  minds  to  a  better  understanding  of  God's  revealed  will, 
or  by  the  leadings  of  His  providence,  will  often  come  to  us 
from  behind,  and  cause  us  to  change  our  preconceived  opin- 
ions, and  to  turn  our  faces  in  a  direction  the  opposite  of 
that  in  which  we  have  been  looking.  Accordingly,  we  shall 
find  that  the  general  course  of  providence  in  the  history  of 
the  church  and  the  world,  as  outlined  in  these  visions,  is  en- 
tirely different  from  any  that  could  have  been  anticipated. 
The  seven  churches  to  which  the  Apocalypse  was  to  be 


30 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


sent  were  all  included  in  the  Roman  province  of  Proconsu- 
lar Asia.  But  there  were  many  other  churches  in  that  prov- 
ince at  the  time,  so  that  we  still  want  a  reason  why  only  these 
are  named,  and  this  reason  we  must  find  in  the  symbolical 
meaning  of  the  number  seven  (14).  For  thus  we  see  that  these 
churches  represent,  and  consequently  the  work  is  addressed 
to,  the  universal  church,  not  only  of  that,  but  of  all  subse- 
quent ages.  This  will  become  still  further  evident  from  the 
following  considerations:  (i)  The  words  with  which  all  the 
Epistles  addressed  to  these  churches  by  name,  close:  "He 
that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the 
churches"  (Rev.  iii.  22);  which  form  of  expression  is  one  of 
universal  significance  and  application:  (2)  The  blessing  is 
pronounced  upon  all  who  read,  or  hear,  and  keep  the  things 
written  in  the  book:  (3)  The  instructions,  admonitions,  warn- 
ings, and  promises,  even  those  contained  in  the  particular 
messages  to  the  churches  named,  are  manifestly  intended  for 
all  Christians:  (4)  The  revelations  in  the  whole  book  take  so 
wide  a  range,  cover  such  immense  periods  of  time,  and  are  of 
such  a  universal  character,  that  they  cannot  be  understood 
otherwise  than  as  containing  matters  of  the  deepest  concern 
for  the  church  in  all  ages:  (5)  This  view  has  come  down  to 
us  from  the  second  century,  for  in  the  Muritorian  Fragment  on 
the  Canon  of  Scripture  we  have  the  words:  "John,  though  in 
the  Apocalypse  he  writes  to  the  seven  churches,  speaks  to 
all."  It  is  also  probable  that  these  churches  were  selected  for 
this  symbolical  purpose  on  account  of  their  representative 
character  in  their  spiritual  states  and  external  circumstances, 
with  which  St.  John  must  have  been  well  acquainted.  For  it 
is  not  likely  that  he  remained  long  at  Jerusalem  after  the 
blessed  mother  of  the  Lord  had  departed  out  of  this  life;  sub- 
sequently to  which  he  seems  to  have  removed  to  Ephesus,  and 
to  have  resided  there  until  his  decease;  hence  the  first  of  the 
Epistles  is  naturally  addressed  to  the  Ephesian  church.  Thus 
we  see  that  what  he  is  here  commanded  to  write  down  and 
send  to  these  churches  is  not  only  the  messages  addressed  to 
them  by  name,  but  all  the  visions  of  the  book,  and  that  these 
are  intended  for  the  whole  church  in  all  subsequent  ages. 


THE  SEVEN  CHURCHES 


31 


*  Thus  the  mouth  which  persecution  closes  God  opens,  and 
causes  it  to  speak  to  the  world:  though  now  an  exile  in  a 
desert  island,  our  Seer  is  enabled  to  give  his  testimony  before 
the  present  and  all  future  generations  of  mankind.  Thus  also 
Luther,  from  his  Wartburg  prison,  yet  speaks  by  his  transla- 
tion of  the  Bible  to  the  Germanic  peoples,  and  John  Bunyan, 
from  his  Bedford  jail,  by  his  divine  allegory  to  the  whole 
world.' 

The  immediate  object  of  these  revelations  was  to  confirm 
the  faith  and  patience  of  the  primitive  Christians  under  their 
cruel  persecutions;  but  their  ultimate  object  was  the  same  for 
the  people  of  God  in  all  subsequent  ages,  under  whatsoever 
trials  and  sorrows,  struggles  and  conflicts  with  the  world,  the 
flesh,  and  the  devil  they  might  be  called  to  pass.  For  this  is 
the  great  need  of  all  time;  and  I  know  not  whether  it  was  ever 
greater  than  it  is  now.  For  this  is  an  age  of  great  commo- 
tion in  thought  and  life,  when  strenuous  efforts  are  made  by 
men  of  no  mean  ability  to  cast  off  the  authority  of  God,  and 
to  banish  Him  from  the  world  which  He  has  created,  and 
which  He  upholds  by  the  Word  of  His  power.  The  scepticism 
of  'science,  falsely  so  called,'  materialism,  spiritualism,  com- 
munism, nihilism,  atheism,  impurity,  social  and  political  cor- 
ruption, repudiation  of  national  obligations  to  God  and  His 
Christ,  rage  for  the  acquisition  of  wealth,  dishonesty  in  busi- 
ness, adulteration  of  food,  the  liquor  traffic,  intemperance; 
but,  more  than  all,  it  is  to  be  feared,  unbelief,  luxury,  and 
worldliness  in  the  church:  these  are  some  of  the  signs  and 
portents  of  our  time,  which  do  sorely  try  the  faith  and  pa- 
tience of  all  true  believers,  and  for  which  the  judgments  and 
plagues  written  in  this  book  will  surely  come  upon  the  church 
and  the  world.  We,  therefore,  have  no  less  need  than  the 
church  of  the  first  ages  had  to  drink  into  the  spirit  of  these 
sublime  revelations  of  the  spiritual  world,  these  sure  predic- 
tions of  future  events,  these  divine  instructions,  admonitions, 
warnings,  promises,  encouragements,  and  blessings.  Hence 
they  are  inscribed  and  addressed  to  us,  no  less  than  they  were 
to  the  seven  churches  of  Asia;  and  so  they  have  always  been 
understood,  not  only  by  learned  interpreters,  but  also  by  the 


32 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 


lowly  and  simple  minded.  It  is  to  us  who  believe  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  that  His  beloved  disciple  addresses  his  affectionate  greet- 
ing: "  Grace  be  unto  you  and  peace  from  Him  who  is,  and  who 
was,  and  who  is  to  come,  and  from  the  seven  Spirits  who  are 
before  His  throne,  and  from  Jesus  Christ,  the  faithful  wit- 
ness, the  firstborn  of  the  dead,  and  the  prince  of  the  kings  of 
the  earth."  It  is  for  us  to  rejoice  in  this  glowing  doxology: 
"  Unto  Him  that  loveth  us,  and  hath  washed  us  from  our  sins 
in  His  blood,  and  hath  made  us  a  kingdom  [and]  priests  unto 
God  and  His  Father,  unto  Him  be  the  glory  and  the  domin- 
ion forever  and  ever."  Yea,  it  is  as  if  this  holy  apostle,  in 
his  remote  old  age,  his  face  glowing  from  his  open  commun- 
ion with  his  and  our  Lord,  now  stood  before  us,  and  pro- 
nounced upon  us  his  mighty  benediction:  *'  Blessed  is  he  that 
readeth  and  they  that  hear  the  words  of  the  prophecy,  and 
keep  the  things  written  therein,  for  the  time  is  near."  And 
it  is  for  us  to  live  in  constant  expectation  of  the  Lord's 
coming,  with  these  glorious  manifestations  of  His  grace  and 
power,  to  subdue  the  nations  unto  himself,  that  we  may  keep 
ourselves  unspotted  from  the  world,  and  may  be  accounted 
worthy  to  enter  into  the  Holy  City. 


IV 

OPENING  VISION      THE  LORD  OF  GLORY   IN   THE   MIDST  OF 
HIS   CHURCHES      I    I2-20 

This  sublime  vision  of  the  Lord  arrayed  in  the  symbols 
of  His  majesty  and  glory,  in  the  midst  of  His  churches,  was 
beheld  by  the  Seer  whilst  he  was  in  the  state  of  spiritual 
ecstasy  (26).  It  was  introduced  by  'a.  great  voice,  as  of  a 
trumpet,'  which  he  heard  behind  him  (28);  and  it  is  given 
here  as  an  introduction,  not  only  to  the  Epistles  that  im- 
mediately follow,  but  also  to  all  the  subsequent  revelations  ; 
for  it  is  with  these  characteristic  traits  that  the  Lord  will 
manifest  Himself  even  to  the  close  of  the  book. 

12  And  I  turned  to  see  the  voice  which  spake  with  me  ;  and,  hav- 
ing turned,  I  saw  seven  golden  light-bearers. 

Here,  by  a  common  figure  of  speech,  the  voice  stands  for 
the  person,  as  in  the  words  :  "  I  am  the  voice  of  one  crying 
in  the  wilderness"  (John  i.  23).  These  light-bearers,  or 
lamp-stands,  as  interpreted  by  the  Lord  himself  at  the  close 
of  the  vision,  are  the  symbol  of  the  seven  churches,  and  con- 
sequently of  the  church  universal  (30).  The  fundamental  idea 
in  the  symbolism  of  gold,  the  purest  and  most  precious  of  all 
the  metals,  is  that  of  the  utmost  purity  and  preciousness  ; 
and  accordingly  it  frequently  denotes  the  most  precious 
things,  such  as  faith,  charity,  holiness.  Hence  these  light- 
bearers  are  of  gold  to  signify  that  the  church  is  the  most 
precious  of  all  things  to  her  Lord,  *  who  hath  purchased  her 
with  his  own  blood  '  (Acts  xx.  28),  and  who  adorns  her  as 
His  Bride  with  the  beauties  of  His  own  character  (Ez.  xvi. 
10-14).  As  light-bearers,  they  signify  that  she  is  the  light 
of  the  world,  that  it  is  her  vocation  to  shine  into  its  darkness, 
and  to  show  the  way  of  life  to  lost  souls,  as  in  the  Lord's  . 
words  :  "  Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world.  .  .  .  Let  your  light 
2*  (33) 


24  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

SO  shine  before  men  that  they  may  see  your  good  works,  and 
glorify  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven  "  (Mat.  v.  14-16). 

13  And  in  the  midst  of  the  light-bearers,  One  like  unto  a  son  of 
man,  clothed  down  to  the  feet,  and  girt  about  the  breasts  with  a 
golden  girdle. 

He  who  is  thus  described  can  be  no  other,  of  course,  but  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  for  it  was  as  '  One  like  unto  a  son  of  man  ' 
(Dan.  vii.  13),  that  He  often  appeared  to  the  prophets,  and 
in  the  Gospels  He  is  called  '  the  Son  of  Man  '  upwards  of  60 
times.  The  expression  denotes  His  true  and  proper  human- 
ity, as  consisting  of  '  a  true  body  and  a  reasonable  soul '  in 
the  unity  of  one  personality  ;  in  virtue  of  which  He  belongs 
to  the  human  species,  is  our  brother,  and  by  which,  offered 
in  sacrifice  to  God,  He  acquired  His  authority,  as  a  man,  to 
govern  and  judge  the  world.  He  appears  in  the  midst  of 
the  light-bearers  to  denote  that  He  dwells  in  the  church,  in 
vital  union  with  His  people,  who  constitute  His  visible  body 
on  earth  (7),  and  the  organ  of  His  manifestations  of  Himself 
unto  the  world,  as  in  the  words  of  St.  Paul  :  "  He  [God] 
hath  .  .  given  Him  to  be  the  head  over  all  things  to  the 
church,  which  is  His  body,  the  fulness  of  Him  that  filleth  all 
in  all"  (Eph.  i.  22-23)  ;  and  in  His  own  words  :  "  Lo,  I  am 
with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world  (Mat.  xxviii. 
10).  Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name, 
there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them  "  (xviii.  20).  And  surely 
we.  His  people,  would  never  fail  to  recognize  Him  as  present 
with  us,  and  would  always  rejoice  in  the  light  of  His  coun- 
tenance, if  it  were  not  for  our  unbelief,  the  feebleness  of  our 
faith  in  these  sweet  promises  and  gracious  assurances. 
Orientals,  when  they  had  anything  to  do  which  required 
effort,  were  accustomed  to  gird  up  their  loins,  as  it  is  said  of 
Elijah  :  "  He  girded  up  his  loins  and  ran  before  Ahab  to  the 
entrance  of  Jezreel"(i  Ki.  xviii.  46).  Hence  the  girdle  in 
that  position  became  a  common  symbol  of  strenuous  exer- 
tion, especially  in  service,  as  it  is  said  of  the  Lord  :  "  Right- 
eousness shall  be  the  girdle  of  His  loins,  and  faithfulness  the 
girdle  of  His  reins  "  (Is.  ii.  5).     But  here  He  appears  with  a 


THE  LORD  IN  THE  MIDST  OF  HIS  CHURCHES         35 

golden  girdle,  not  on  His  loins,  but  about  His  breasts,  where 
it  was  worn  by  the  Jewish  high  priests  and  kings.  In  fact,  the 
golden  girdle  on  the  breast,  and  the  flowing  robe  '  down  to 
the  feet,'  were  the  insignia  both  of  the  high  priests  and  of 
the  kings  in  Israel.  Here,  therefore,  they  symbolize  the  royal 
majesty  and  authority,  along  with  the  priestly  office  and 
functions,  of  the  Lord  ;  in  the  exercise  of  which  royal  priest- 
hood He  makes  atonement  for  our  sins,  offers  up  His  all- 
prevalent  intercessions  for  us,  subdues  us  unto  Himself,  and 
conquers  all  His  and  our  enemies  :  and  the  girdle,  as  being 
of  gold,  represents  the  purity,  excellence,  and  preciousness 
of  His  work  and  service  in  both  these  offices. 

14  And  His  head  and  His  hair  were  white  as  white  wool,  as  snow ; 
and  His  eyes  vvere  as  a  flame  of  fire  ;  15  and  His  feet  ■were  like  unto 
burnished  brass,  as  glow^ing  in  a  furnace  ;  and  His  voice  was  as  the 
voice  of  many  waters. 

The  head,  being  the  seat,  becomes  the  symbol,  of  all 
man's  spiritual  faculties.  The  hair  unshorn  is  a  Scriptural 
symbol  of  extraordinary  consecration  to  God,  and  of  spiritual 
power  from  such  consecration,  as  Samson,  a  consecrated 
Nazarite,  must  not  have  his  hair  shorn  (Judges  xiii.  5),  and 
hence  his  preternatural  strength  (xvi.  19).  White  is  the 
symbol  of  purity  and  victory,  from  which,  in  these  visions, 
it  never  varies.  The  point  of  comparison  here  between  the 
Lord's  hair  and  wool  is  not  that  of  texture,  but  simply  color. 
Nor  has  this  whiteness  any  reference  to  His  personal  appear- 
ance in  the  flesh,  for  a  uniform  tradition  ascribes  to  Him 
hair  of  a  gold  or  bright  auburn  hue;  which  is  not  a  little 
remarkable,  since  black  or  dark  hair  was  and  still  is  almost 
universal  among  pure  Hebrews.  Still  less  is  this  white  hair 
that  of  old  age,  for  it  is  luminously  brilliant,  like  the  driven 
snow;  but,  like  the  sword  going  forth  out  of  His  mouth,  it  is 
to  be  taken  as  wholly  symbolical,  to  denote  His  Nazaritic 
consecration,  purity,  holiness,  and  victorious  power.  Here 
also  we  should  recall  the  words  of  the  prophet:  "I  beheld  ,  . 
and  the  Ancient  of  Days  did  sit,  whose  garment  was  white  as 
snow,  and  the  hair  of  His  head  was  like  pure  wool "  (Dan. 


36  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

vii.  9);  for  evidently  this  striking  characteristic  could  not  be 
thus  transferred  without  an  intention  to  identify  the  Christ 
of  the  Apocalypse  with  the  Jehovah  of  the  Old  Testament. 
This  idea  of  the  Lord's  absolute  divinity  is  still  further 
developed  in  the  statement  that  *  His  eyes  were  as  a  flame  of 
fire.'  For  the  fundamental  meaning  of  fire,  as  a  symbol,  is 
that  of  the  justice  of  God,  either  as  a  purifying  or  a  con- 
suming power,  as  in  the  words:  "He  shall  baptize  you  with 
the  Holy  Spirit  and  with  fire  (Mat.  iii.  11).  For  our  God 
[not  God  out  of  Christ,  as  often  misquoted]  is  a  consuming 
fire"  (Heb.  xii.  29).  The  eye  is  the  symbol  of  knowledge 
and  wisdom,  for 

The  eyes  of  the  Lord  are  in  every  place, 

Keeping  watch  upon  the  evil  and  the  good  (Prov.  xv.  3). 

In  this  comparison  of  His  eyes  to  a  flame  of  fire,  therefore, 
we  have  represented  His  piercing  and  just  discernment  of 
the  secrets  of  all  hearts.  His  burning  zeal  against  all  in- 
justice and  wickedness,  and  both  the  consuming  and  purify- 
ing influences  which  He  thus  exerts.  For  as  fire  penetrates 
all  things,  separates  the  dross  from  metals,  and  purifies 
whatever  it  does  not  consume,  so  the  Lord's  searching  dis- 
cernment pierces  into  the  darkest  recesses  of  our  souls,  and 
so  does  the  exercise  of  His  just  judgment,  by  consuming  our 
corruptions,  purify  our  hearts  and  lives.  Hence  the  final 
purification  of  the  earth,  which  will  complete  what  was  only 
partially  accomplished  by  the  flood,  will  be,  whether  literally 
or  figuratively,  by  fire.  The  word  here  rendered  '  burnished 
brass '  is  of  very  doubtful  meaning,  but  taken  in  connection 
with  those  that  follow,  '  as  glowing  in  a  furnace,'  it  is 
evidently  intended  to  represent  the  feet  of  the  Lord  as  of 
exceeding  brightness,  to  denote  that  He  is  all  glorious,  even 
to  the  lowest  and  least  honorable  parts  of  His  body,  in 
allusion  to  the  prophecy  :  "  How  beautiful  are  the  feet  of 
Him  that  bringeth  good  tidings,  that  publishelh  peace  .  . 
that  sayeth  unto  Zion,  Thy  God  reigneth  ! "  (Is.  Ivii.  7). 
Moreover,  since  the  feet  are  the  instruments  of  motion,  and 
the  Lord  is  hereafter  described  as  '  walking  in  the  midst  of 


THE  LORD  IN  THE  MIDST  OF  HIS  CHURCHES 


57 


the  light-bearers '  (Rev.  ii.  i),  this  appearance  may  be  in- 
tended to  represent  the  glory  of  His  movements  in  the 
church.  In  order  to  feel  the  full  force  of  the  sublime  image 
in  the  words,  '  His  voice  was  as  the  voice  of  many  waters,' 
one  must  have  heard  the  roar  of  the  ocean  in  a  storm,  when 
the  great  waves  dash  upon  each  other,  or  roll  in  upon  a 
rock-bound  coast,  with  a  strength,  massiveness,  as  it  were,  a 
solidity  of  sound,  that  drowns  all  others,  and  seems  to  fill  all 
space.  It  is  a  symbol  of  His  almighty  power,  and  more 
explicitly,  that  when  He  speaks.  He  means  to  be  heard  and 
obeyed. 

i6  And  He  held  in  His  right  hand  seven  stars;  and  out  of  His 
mouth  there  went  forth  a  sharp  two-edged  sword  ;  and  His  counten- 
ance was  as  the  sun  shineth  in  his  strength. 

The  image  of  'the  seven  stars  held  in  His  right  hand  '  He 
interprets  at  the  close  of  the  vision.  That  of  *  the  sharp 
two-edged  sword  going  forth  out  of  His  mouth '  represents 
the  word  of  God  :  "  The  sword  of  the  Spirit  .  .  is  the  word  of 
God  (Eph.  vi.  17).  The  word  of  God  is  quick  and  powerful, 
and  sharper  than  any  two-edged  sv/ord,  and  piercing,  even 
to  the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit,  and  of  joints  and 
marrow,  and  is  a  judge  of  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the 
heart"  (Heb.  iv.  12).  The  Lord  now  comes  forth  to  judge 
the  world  by  His  word,  and  almost  the  whole  book  is  oc- 
cupied with  this  judgment,  which  reaches  its  final  stage  in 
the  vision  of  *  the  great  white  throne  '  (Rev.  xx.  11),  in  fulfil- 
ment of  his  own  prophecy  :  *'  He  that  rejecteth  me,  and 
receiveth  not  my  sayings,  hath  one  that  judgeth  him  ;  the 
word  that  I  have  spoken  shall  judge  him  in  the  last  day  " 
(John  xii.  48).  The  sharpness  of  the  sword,  both  of  point 
and  edge,  for  piercing  and  cleaving,  as  if  it  should  divide 
limb  from  limb,  and  penetrate  to  the  marrow  of  the  bones, 
represents  the  searching  power  of  the  word,  in  that  it  brings 
to  light  the  most  secret  thoughts  and  purposes  of  the  human 
heart ;  which  is  one  of  its  most  characteristic  traits,  where- 
by it  is  eminently  distinguished  from  all  merely  human  com- 
positions.    The  two   edges   of    the   sword  may  contain  an 


38  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YFSE 

allusion  to  the  twofold  function  of  the  word,  whereby  it 
either  slays  the  enmity  of  the  carnal  mind,  and  thus  becomes 
the  instrument  of  salvation,  or,  Avhere  it  meets  with  obdurate 
resistance,  cuts  men  off  in  their  sins.  For  the  word  of  the 
gospel,  where  it  is  not  '  a  savor  of  life  unto  life,'  must  needs 
become  '  a  savor  of  death  unto  death '  (2  Cor.  ii.  16),  as 
also  in  the  words  of  the  Lord  :  "  If  I  had  not  come  and 
spoken  unto  them,  they  had  not  had  sin"  (John  xv.  22).  In 
the  subsequent  visions,  we  must  be  careful  not  to  lose  sight 
of  the  gracious  function  of  this  two-edged  sword.  The 
symbolism  of  the  sun  is  quite  complex.  For,  as  the  source 
of  light  and  heat,  it  represents  the  primary  and  subordinate 
sources  and  supplies  of  intellectual,  moral,  and  spiritual 
light  and  quickening  ;  and  as  its  heat,  when  excessive,  or 
received  under  unfavorable  conditions,  is  deleterious,  it 
represents  also  destructive  spiritual  influences  ;  of  all  which 
we  have  many  such  instances  as  the  following  :  "  God  is  a 
sun  (Ps.  Ixxxiv.  11).  The  sun  of  righteousness  shall  arise 
with  healing  in  his  wings  (Mai.  iv.  2).  The  sun  shall  not 
smite  thee  by  day  (Ps.  cxxiv.  6).  When  the  sun  was  up,  they 
were  scorched,  and  because  they  had  no  root  they  withered 
away"  (Mat.  xiii.  6).  Here  the  dominant  idea  seems  to  be 
that  of  a  spiritual  glory  in  the  Lord's  countenance,  in 
allusion  to  His  transfiguration,  which  St.  John  had  witnessed, 
when  *  His  face  did  shine  as  the  sun  '  (Mat.  xvii.  2),  also  to 
the  following  :  "  The  light  of  the  King's  countenance  is  life 
(Prov.  vi.  5).  Lord,  lift  thou  up  the  light  of  thy  counten- 
ance upon  us  (Ps.  iv.  6).  The  light  of  thy  countenance  did 
save  them  (xliv.  3).  God,  who  commanded  the  light  to 
shine  out  of  darkness,  hath  shined  into  our  hearts  to  give 
the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face 
of  Jesus  Christ"  (2  Cor.  iv.  6).  For  as  the  sun  shining  in 
his  strength  scatters  the  shades  of  night,  and  gives  light  to 
the  natural  world,  so  the  light  of  the  Lord's  countenance 
banishes  from  our  minds  the  darkness  of  ignorance,  error, 
and  sin,  from  our  hearts  the  gloom  of  depression  and  sor- 
row, and  dries  up  all  our  tears. 


THE  LORD  IN  THE  MIDST  OF  HIS  CHURCHES 


39 


17  And  when  I  saw  Him,  I  fell  at  His  feet  as  dead  :  and  He  laid 
His  right  hand  upon  me,  saying,  Fear  not,  I  am  the  first  and  the  last, 
18  and  the  living  One  ;  and  I  was  dead,  and,  behold,  I  am  alive  for- 
ever and  ever ;  and  I  hold  the  keys  of  Death  and  of  Hades. 

This  effect  was  produced  upon  the  Seer,  no  doubt,  by 
spiritual  awe  and  fear  in  presence  of  such  an  overwhelming 
manifestation  of  the  Lord's  glory,  as  when  the  disciples  be- 
held a  similar  unveiling  on  the  mount  of  transfiguration, 
'  they  fell  on  their  faces  and  were  sore  afraid  '  (Mat.  xvii.  6). 
For  such  awe  and  fear  we  naturally  feel  when  the  spiritual 
world  is  disclosed  to  our  spiritual  senses  ;  and  such  dis- 
closures would  paralyze  all  our  faculties,  if  it  were  not  for 
their  gracious  character,  and  for  the  interior  support  received 
from  the  Lord.  For  to  behold  His  glory  is  to  die  unto  self 
and  the  world  ;  and  it  was  in  this  sense,  though  misunder- 
stood by  the  Old  Testament  people,  that  God  said  to  Moses  : 
"  Thou  canst  not  see  my  face,  for  there  shall  no  man  see  me 
and  live  "  (Ex.  xxxiii.  20).  The  right  hand  of  the  Lord  is  a 
frequent  symbol  of  His  power  and  wisdom  exercised  for  the 
deliverance  and  safety  of  His  people,  as  in  the  following 
instances  : 

Thy  right  hand,  O  Lord,  is  glorious  in  power ; 

Thy  right  hand,  O  Lord,  dasheth  in  pieces  the  enemy  (Ex.  xvi.  6). 

Now  know  I  that  the  Lord  saveth  His  anointed  ; 

He  will  answer  him  from  the  heaven  of  His  holiness 

With  the  saving  strength  of  His  right  hand  (Ps.  xx.  6). 

With  this  symbolical  meaning,  the  Lord  now  lays  His  right 
hand  upon  the  fainting  Seer,  and  restores  him  from  his  death- 
ly swoon,  saying,  '  Fear  not,'  which  is  the  word  of  the  gospel 
throughout  to  all  believers.  He  adds  also,  'I  am  the  first 
and  the  last,  and  the  living  One,'  whereby  He  again  identifies 
himself  with  the  Jehovah  of  the  Old  Testament ;  and  in  the 
words  that  follow,  *  I  was  dead,  and,  behold,  I  am  alive  for- 
ever and  ever,'  He  declares  that  He  is  the  Christ  who  was 
crucified,  and  is  now  risen  from  the  dead  to  a  life  that  shall 
know  no  end.  Death  and  Hades  are  probably  the  most  diffi- 
cult symbols  in  the  book.    They  are  personifications  through- 


40 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


out  and  the  old  Jewish  interpreters  understood  them  as  repre- 
senting living  personal  beings,  which  also  seems  best  to  agree 
with  what  is  said  of  them  in  these  visions,  for  we  shall  see 
hereafter  that  their  destiny  is  to  be  '  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire  ' 
(Rev.  XX.  14).  Yet  here  their  keys  are  mentioned,  which  im- 
plies the  idea  of  a  prison.  Death  sometimes  stands  for  pesti- 
lence, that  being  one  of  the  greatest  powers  which  destroy 
life  ;  and  Hades,  for  a  place  where  the  souls  of  the  dead  are 
imprisoned,  also  a  state  of  torment  hardly  distinguishable 
from  hell.  Here  they  seem  to  be  different  names  for  the  dark 
realm  of  sin  and  death,  over  which  the  Lord  has  obtained 
control  by  His  most  holy  sacrifice  ;  for  all  that  they  can  sig- 
nify is  the  consequence  of  sin,  from  which  He  delivers  His 
people,  and  hence  He  is  said  to  hold  their  keys, 

19  Write,  therefore,  the  things  which  thou  sawest,  and  the  things 
which  are,  and  the  things  which  shall  be  hereafter :  20  the  mystery  of 
the  seven  stars  which  thou  sawest  in  my  right  hand,  and  the  seven 
golden  light-bearers.  The  seven  stars  are  the  angels  of  the  seven 
churches,  and  the  seven  light-bearers  are  the  seven  churches. 

Because  he  has  been  favored  with  this  wondrous  vision  of 
the  Lord  in  His  glory,  and  his  suspended  faculties  have  been 
thus  graciously  restored,  '  therefore '  he  is  to  write  down 
what  he  has  seen  and  heard,  and  what  he  shall  see  and  hear 
afterwards  ;  for  the  order  of  time  here  does  not  seem  to  be 
that  of  historical  events,  but  of  the  successive  visions.  And 
he  is  to  give  special  attention  to  'the  mystery  (that  which 
has  a  mystical  or  symbolic  import)  of  the  seven  stars,  and  to 
the  seven  golden  light-bearers.'  This  renewed  command  to 
make  a  record  of  the  visions  implies,  of  course,  the  one  pre- 
viously given  (26),  to  send  it  to  the  seven  churches,  i.  e.  not 
only  the  Epistles  addressed  to  them  by  name,  but  also  the 
whole  Apocalypse,  as  intended  for  the  church  universal  (30). 

But  who  are  these  angels  represented  by  the  seven  stars  ?  A 
great  many  different  answers  have  been  given,  but  that  which 
seems  liable  to  fewest  objections,  and  best  to  harmonize 
with  all  the  statements  concerning  them,  is,  that  they  are 
the  pastors  of  these  churches,  representing  the  pastorate  of 
the  whole  church.     This  interpretation  rests  upon  such  con- 


THE  LORD  IN  THE  MIDST  OF  HIS  CHURCHES 


41 


siderations  as  the  following  :  (i)  These  angels  cannot  be  such 
in  a  literal  sense  for  two  reasons  :  (a)  The  Epistles  addressed 
to  them  were  writings  on  parchment  or  papyrus,  and  we  can 
hardly  conceive  how  such  material  manuscripts  could  be  sent  ^fU^-  ^^  ■''**■ 
to,  or  received  by,  literal  angels  ;  (b)  they  are  charged  with 
all  the  sins  and  corruptions  of  their  several  churches,  which 
is  inconsistent  with  the  character  of  holy  angels  :  (2)  The 
word  angel  means  a  messenger,  and  pastors  are  God's  messen- 
gers, who  bring  the  glad  tidings,  or  gospel  of  His  grace,  to 
their  churches,  which  is  a  good  reason  why  they  should  be 
called  angels  :  (3)  The  Epistles  are  evidently  intended  for 
the  churches,  yet  they  are  addressed  to  their  angels,  as  if  to 
their  rulers  and  teachers,  to  whose  pastoral  care  they  were  en- 
trusted, who  should  be  held  responsible  for  their  purity,  and 
who  should  read  the  messages  of  the  Spirit  unto  them  in 
their  public  assemblies,  which  would  be  the  proper  duty  of 
their  pastors  :  (4)  This  interpretation  has  the  authority  of 
the  greatest  number  of  sound  and  able  expositors.  Taking 
it,  then,  as  the  true  one,  we  must  understand  that  pastors  are 
here  represented  by  stars  to  signify  that  it  is  their  vocation 
to  give  forth  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  God  and  divine 
things  ;  in  which,  moreover,  they  are  identified  with  their 
churches  as  light-bearers  ;  and  thus  additional  emphasis  is 
given  to  the  idea  that  the  church,  including  her  pastorate,  is 
the  depository  of  spiritual  light  amidst  the  darkness  of  the 
world.  In  fine,  these  stars  are  held  in  the  Lord's  right  hand 
to  signify  that  the  pastors  of  His  churches  are  protected,  up- 
held, and  controlled  by  His  wisdom  and  power,  and  are  very 
dear  to  Him,  as  elsewhere  they  are  called  *  the  signet  on  His 
right  hand'  (Jer,  xxii.  24). 

Such  was  this  wondrous  unveiling  of  the  Lord  in  His  glory 
which  St.  John  beheld  what  time  he  was  'in  the  Spirit  on 
the  Lord's  Day  '  (26)  :  nor  was  he  disobedient  to  the  heavenly 
vision,  but  proceeded,  as  he  was  commanded,  to  make  a 
faithful  record  of  what  he  saw  and  heard,  and  to  send  it  to 
these  particular  churches,  for  the  use  of  the  whole  church  at 
that  time  and  in  all  subsequent  ages.  Thus,  also,  we  are 
admonished  that  whatever  we  receive  from  the  Lord  is  not 


42 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 


to  be  kept  to  ourselves,  but  is  to  be  communicated  to  others, 
especially  to  our  fellow  Christians  :  an  admonition  to  which 
I,  in  my  poor  way,  strive  to  give  heed  in  the  publication  of 
this  work,  the  fruit  of  seven  years'  strenuous  but  delightful 
toil.  For  such  is  '  the  communion  of  saints '  that  grace 
which  does  not  make  us  the  ministers  of  grace  to  others  is 
no  grace  to  us.  Let  us  endeavor,  then,  to  possess  ourselves  of 
the  blessing  which  this  sacred  record  contains  (lo).  For  the 
Lord  in  His  glory  is  ever  present  with  us  as  truly  as  He  was 
with  His  beloved  disciple  in  Patmos,  or  with  His  seven 
churches  in  Asia,  only  let  us  have  faith  to  realize  it.  The 
two-edged  sword  of  His  word  still  goes  forth  from  His 
mouth  to  judge  the  secrets  of  our  hearts,  and  it  is  for  us  to 
submit  ourselves  to  its  searching  and  infallible  judgments  ; 
for  surely  it  will  slay  the  enmity  of  the  natural  man  in  us, 
and  purify  our  lives,  or  it  will  execute  all  its  threatenings, 
and  slay  our  souls  with  the  second  death.  Let  us  consent  to 
die  unto  self,  the  world,  and  sin,  to  be  'crucified  with  Him, 
to  be  baptized  into  His  death'  (Rom.  vi.  2-4),  and  He  will 
lay  His  right  hand  upon  us,  saying,  '  Fear  not,  I  am  the  first 
and  the  last,  and  the  living  One  ;  and  I  was  dead,  and  be- 
hold, I  am  alive  forever  and  ever  ;  and  I  hold  the  keys  of 
Death  and  of  Hades.'  In  the  deepest  humiliation  let  us 
worship  Him  who  here  reveals  Himself  in  His  glory,  whom 
we  shall  one  day  behold  on  His  'great  white  throne,' and 
whose  voice  we  shall  then  hear,  as  the  voice  of  many  waters, 
pronouncing  the  word  of  our  final  destiny:  that  word  which 
will  open  to  us  the  pearl-gates  of  the  New  Jerusalem  (Rev. 
XX.  21),  and  give  us  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life  which  is  in  the 
Paradise  of  God,  and  to  drink  of  the  river  of  the  water  of 
life  which  flows  forth  out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  the 
Lamb  (xxii.  1-2),  or  will  consign  us  to  the  lake  that  burneth 
with  fire  and  brimstone,  which  is  the  second  death  (xix.  15). 


V 


EPISTLE   TO   THE    CHURCH   IN   EPHESUS     THE   CHURCH   IN 
DECLENSION      II    I-/ 

The  preceding  vision  closes  the  introduction  of  the  book, 
which  is  immediately  followed  by  the  first  series  of  revela- 
tions, that  of  these  Epistles  to  the  seven  churches  ;  the 
primary  object  of  which  was,  as  has  been  said,  to  confirm 
the  faith  and  patience  of  the  people  of  God  in  those  times  of 
grievous  persecution  and  temptation  to  apostasy ;  when 
they 'had  trial  of  mockings  and  scourgings  .  .  bonds  and 
imprisonment  .  .  were  stoned  .  .  Avere  sawn  asunder,  were 
tempted,  were  slain  with  the  sword.  .  .  .  They  wandered 
about  in  sheepskins,  in  goat-skins  .  ..  in  deserts  and  moun- 
tains and  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth  .  .  being  destitute,, 
afflicted,  tormented  .  .  of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy ' 
(Heb.  xi.  36-38).  In  fact,  they  suffered  such  extreme  afflic- 
tions from  the  fierceness  and  rage  of  their  bloody  per- 
secutors ;  such  multitudes  of  them  were  put  to  death, 
including  their  most  distinguished  pastors  and  teachers  and 
their  women  and  children  ;  such  was  the  insecurity  of  life 
and  property  for  those  who  survived  ;  and  so  overwhelming 
was  the  general  misery,  that  they  must  have  been  sorely 
tempted  to  think  that  they  were  God-forsaken  fanatics  and 
fools,  as  they  were  commonly  regarded  by  their  pagan  con- 
temporaries. Especially,  when  we  remember  that  they  could 
always  save  their  lives  and  property  by  so  slight  a  con- 
formity to  the  State  religion  as  that  of  sprinkling  a  little 
incense  upon  any  altar  to  the  Genius  of  the  reigning  Ccesar, 
v.'e  see  that  the  strain  upon  their  faith  and  constancy  must 
have  been  simply  tremendous.  Hence  they  needed  to  be 
powerfully  reassured  that  their  cause  was  the  cause  of  God, 
upon  which  the  salvation  of  the  world  depended,  and  was 

(43) 


44 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


worthy  of  all  the  sacrifices  they  could  make  for  it ;  that  they 
were  not  forsaken  of  God,  but  that  He  and  all  His  heavenly 
hosts  were  enlisted  on  their  side  ;  that  He  would  not  fail  in 
due  time  to  show  forth  His  justice  upon  their  cruel  per- 
secutors ;  that  in  the  end  their  vindication  should  be  com- 
plete, and  they  should  triumph  gloriously.  This  was  what 
they  needed,  and  this  was  given  them  in  these  Epistles  and 
in  the  subsequent  visions.  Thus  we  see  why  the  messages 
all  close  with  promises  of  the  most  glorious  rewards  '  to  him 
that  overcometh '  (Rev.  ii.  26-28).  And  doubtless  the  be- 
loved disciple  was  chosen  to  be  the  organ  of  communication 
between  them  and  their  Lord  for  this  reason  among  others, 
that  he  was  their  brother  and  companion  in  their  tribulation 
and  patience,  who  himself  had  suffered  virtual  martyrdom, 
and  was  then  in  banishment  'for  the  word  of  God  and  the 
-testimony  of  Jesus '  (25).  For  so  their  consolations  would 
flow  through  the  heart  of  him  who  stood  nearest  to  their 
Lord,  and  who  was  in  the  tenderest  sympathy  with  them  in 
all  their  need  of  sustaining  grace. 

But  the  instructions,  admonitions,  promises,  and  consola- 
tions in  these  Epistles  are  of  universal  application  (30).  For 
the  spiritual  states  of  these  churches,  which  are  portrayed 
with  a  few  master  strokes,  such  as  in  any  merely  human  com- 
position would  be  regarded  as  the  perfection  of  art,  con- 
stantly reproduce  themselves  in  other  churches,  and  they 
cover  the  ground  of  the  most  prevailing  religious  experiences 
in  all  ages.  The  representative  character  of  these  seven 
churches  miist  be  constantly  borne  in  mind  (31).  For  even 
now  it  would  be  easy  to  find  Christian  communities,  as  they 
are  here  represented,  (i)  in  declension  from  former  love,  (2) 
in  neglect  of  necessary  discipline,  (3)  infested  with  immoral 
doctrines  and  practices,  (4)  infected  with  idolatry,  (5)  in  a 
state  of  lukewarmness,  (6)  spiritually  dead  whilst  having  a 
name  to  live,  (7)  in  spiritual  prosperity,  and  triumphing  over 
their  enemies.  Several  of  these  traits  may  be  combined  in  one 
and  the  same  church,  v/hilst  those  of  spiritual  prosperity  and 
victory  may  have  been  more  conspicuous  in  primitive  times, 
and  may  become  so  hereafter,  than  they  are  now.    Hence  the 


THE  CHURCH  IN  DECLENSION 


45 


great  importance  of  these  messages  of  the  Spirit  to  us  all, 
as  expressed  in  the  solemn  admonition  with  which  they  all 
close  :  "  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit 
saith  unto  the  churches  "  (Rev.  ii.  7). 

I  Unto  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Ephesus  write :  These  things 
saith  He  that  holdeth  fast  the  seven  stars  in  His  right  hand,  that 
walketh  in  the  midst  of  the  seven  golden  light-bearers, 

Ephesus,  at  this  time,  was  a  great  and  flourishing  city,  the 
capital  of  Proconsular  Asia,  and  next  after  Corinth  the  most 
important  seat  of  the  ancient  Mediterranean  commerce.  It 
was  situated  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  Caystrus  or  Cay- 
ster,  and  its  harbor,  Panormus,  was  very  celebrated.  It  con- 
tained that  famous  temple  of  'the  great  goddess  Diana' 
(Acts  xix.  27),  which  was  one  of  the  seven  wonders  of  the 
ancient  world;  'to  the  beauty  of  which  the  genius  of  Praxi- 
teles had  contributed,  and  the  fragments  of  whose  richly 
sculptured  columns,  now  in  the  British  Museum,  convey 
some  idea  of  its  vast  size  and  splendid  decorations.'  Its  in- 
habitants were  Ionian  Greeks,  who,  in  general,  were  notorious 
for  their  luxury  and  licentiousness.  Some  wretched  villages 
now  occupy  its  former  site.  At  the  time  of  these  Epistles, 
it  contained  a  great  Christian  community,  or  church,  which 
had  been  founded  about  40  years  before  by  St.  Paul  during 
his  3  years  ministry  there  (Acts  xx.  3),  in  which  also  Apollos, 
Aquila,  Priscilla,  and  Tychicus  had  labored,  and  of  which 
Timothy  seems  to  have  been  the  first  bishop  or  settled  pas- 
tor, who  may  have  been  the  angel  to  whom  this  Epistle  is 
addressed. 

The  two  characteristics  of  Him  who  speaks  and  sends  this 
message  are  taken  from  the  opening  vision,  thus  identifying 
Him  with  the  Lord  in  His  glory.  But  in  both  the  forms  of 
expression  are  somewhat  varied  :  for,  instead  of  merely  hold- 
ing (40),  He  'holds  fast '  the  seven  stars  in  His  right  hand,  to 
denote  the  absoluteness  of  His  control  over  the  pastors  of 
His  churches,  and  that  He  purposes  not  to  let  them  go,  nor  to 
cast  them  off  from  His  protection  and  guidance,  notwith- 
standing they  merit  such  pungent  rebukes :  also,  instead  of 


46  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

being  in  tiie  midst  of  the  light-bearers  simply  (34),  here  He 
*  walks  to  and  fro '  in  the  midst  of  them,  for  thai  is  the  pre- 
cise meaning  of  the  word,  to  signify  that  He  acquaints  him- 
self intimately  with  the  spiritual  state  of  His  churches,  and 
with  all  their  doings,  and  that  He  watches  over  them  with 
the  utmost  vigilance  and  care.  These  particulars  of  His 
relation  to  churches  and  pastors  have  special  appropriate- 
ness at  the  head  of  this  Epistle  with  which  the  series  com- 
mences. 

2  I  know  thy  works  and  thy  labor  and  thy  patience,  and  that  thou 
canst  not  bear  evil  men ;  and  thou  hast  tried  them  that  say  they  are 
apostles,  and  are  not,  and  hast  found  them  liars ;  3  and  thou  hast 
patience,  and  hast  borne  for  my  name,  and  hast  not  been  weary. 

The  Epistle  begins  and  ends  with  significant  and  affec- 
tionate commendations,  which,  since  the  angels  throughout 
represent  their  churches  (41),  must  be  understood  to  apply  to 
the  body  of  believers  in  this  church.  They  had  been  laborious 
and  patient,  and  they  had  not  tolerated  evil  men  in  their 
communion  ;  in  other  words,  they  had  been  faithful  in  the 
administration  of  necessary  discipline.  They  had  even  tried 
some  who  claimed  to  be  apostles,  and  had  found  them  de- 
ceivers. Who  these  pretended  apostles  were  we  do  not 
know.  Some  sceptical  authors  have  imagined  that  St. 
Paul's  claims  to  be  an  apostle  are  here  alluded  to,  but  this 
has  not  a  shadow  of  probability,  when  we  remember  that 
this  church  had  been  founded  by  him,  and  the  affectionate 
interview  between  him  and  its  elders,  when  he  last  visited 
and  admonished  them  in  the  following  words  :  "Take  heed 
to  yourselves  and  to  the  flock  in  which  the  Holy  Spirit  hath 
made  you  overseers,  to  feed  the  church  of  God,  which  He 
hath  purchased  with  His  own  blood.  For  I  know  that  after 
my  departure  grievous  wolves  will  enter  in  among  you,  not 
sparing  the  flock  ;  and  from  among  your  own  selves  will  men 
arise,  speaking  perverse  things,  to  draw  away  disciples  after 
them  "  (Acts  xx.  28-29).  This  prophecy  had  been  fulfilled  ; 
the  wolves  and  speakers  of  perverse  things  had  appeared 
among  them;  and  the  church  had  profited  by  these  warnings 


THE  CHURCH  IN  DECLENSION 


47 


from  her  great  founder,  and  had  been  faithful  in  the  appli- 
cation of  discipline  to  her  unworthy  members.  Hence  her 
high  meed  of  praise  from  the  Lord  in  His  glory  for  at  least 
five  eminent  Christian  graces  :  (i)  Laboriousness  in  her 
active  service,  (2)  patient  endurance  in  her  labors  and  in 
bearing  her  trials,  (3)  fidelity  in  purifying  herself  from 
unworthy  members,  (4)  putting  to  tests  which  they  could 
not  bear  some  who  falsely  claimed  to  be  apostles,  (5)  doing 
all  this  persistently,  without  becoming  weary,  for  the  name 
or  glory  of  her  Lord.  Thus  far,  therefore.  He  says  to  her  : 
"Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant"  (Mat.  xxv.  21).  But 
in  what  follows  He  gives  her  one  of  His  most  searching  and 
humiliating  rebukes. 

4  But  I  have  against  thee,  that  thou  hast  left  thy  first  love. 

In  the  English  Bible  the  words  are, '  I  have  [somewhat] 
against  thee,'  but  here,  as  in  so  many  other  cases,  the  insertion 
by  the  translators  mars  and  even  falsifies  the  Lord's  meaning. 
For,  ah,  it  was  more  than  somewhat  that  He  had  against  this 
beloved  church  ;  it  was  that  she  had  let  ^o  or  departed  from 
her  first  love  ;  that  love  with  which  the  hearts  of  her  mem- 
bers had  been  inflamed  when  they  were  first  called  out  of  the 
self-righteousness  of  Judaism,  or  the  darkness  and  corrup- 
tions of  paganism,  into  the  light  and  purity  and  peace  of  the 
gospel  ;  that  love  which  had  for  its  objects  their  crucified 
Saviour,  and  each  other,  and  the  holy  apostle  under  whose 
ministry  they  had  been  converted  ;  which  last  is  so  vividly 
portra)^ed  in  his  final  interview  with  their  elders,  when  *  he 
kneeled  down  and  prayed  with  them  all,  and  they  wept  sore, 
and  fell  on  Paul's  neck  and  kissed  him,  sorrowing  most  of 
all  for  the  word  which  he  had  spoken,  that  they  should  see 
his  face  no  more '  (Acts  xx.  36-38).  Her  falling  away  from 
such  love  was  the  one  sin  of  the  Ephesian  church,  but  it  was 
more  than  'somewhat';  it  might  grow  to  be  everything; 
and  even  now  it  overbalanced,  as  we  shall  immediately  see, 
all  her  other  excellencies  of  Christian  character  and  ser- 
vice. 


48  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

5  Remember,  therefore,  from  whence  thou  art  fallen,  and  repent, 
and  do  the  first  works  ;  or  else  I  will  come  unto  thee,  and  remove  thy 
light-bearer  out  of  its  place,  except  thou  repent. 

Here  the  complete  identification  of  the  angel  with  his 
church  is  evident  from  the  fact,  that  the  sin  with  which  he  is 
charged  is  to  be  visited  upon  her.  It  is  the  church,  then,  that 
is  thus  solemnly  admonished  to  remember  from  what  former 
blessed  estate  she  has  fallen  ;  how  it  was  with  her  when  her 
first  love  glowed  in  her  bosom  :  for  the  effect  of  such  memo- 
ries will  be  to  make  her  sensible  of  her  sin  and  folly,  and  to 
humble  her  in  the  dust.  For  nothing  can  be  of  any  avail  to 
the  recovery  of  her  lost  love,  or  to  restore  her  former  estate 
in  her  Lord's  favor,  without  repentance,  to  which,  therefore, 
she  is  thrice  admonished.  She  must  regard  her  declension, 
not  as  a  calamity  for  which  she  has  no  responsibility,  but  as 
a  grievous  and  inexcusable  sin,  from  which  she  must  '  turn 
unto  God  with  full  purpose  and  endeavor  after  new  obedi- 
ence.* And  she  must  *  do  the  first  works,'  i.  e.  cast  herself 
upon  the  mercy  of  God  in  Christ,  precisely  as  she  did  when 
she  first  received  forgiveness  and  reconciliation,  and  thus 
rekindle  in  her  bosom  the  original  flame  of  divine  love. 
Otherwise  her  Lord  will  come  to  her  in  judgment  without 
mercy,  and  remove  her  out  of  her  place  ;  she  shall  be  blot- 
ted out  of  existence.  In  all  this  we  have  our  Lord's  view  of 
the  grievous  sin  of  declension  in  piety,  for  which  departure 
from  first  love  is  only  another  name. 

6  But  this  thou  hast,  that  thou  hatest  the  works  of  the  Nicolaitans, 
which  I  also  hate. 

As  if  to  soften  the  severity  of  the  preceding  rebuke,  and 
certainly  to  encourage  the  church  to  repentance  and  refor- 
mation, the  message  now  returns  to  words  of  commendation 
and  praise.  But  who  were  these  Nicolaitans  ?  Some  have 
imagined  that  'Nicolas,  a  proselyte  of  Antioch '  (Acts  vi.  5), 
and  one  of  the  seven  deacons  in  the  church  at  Jerusalem, 
either  himself  had  led  off  an  heretical  sect,  or  that  one  had 
been  formed  under  cover  of  his  name  ;  but  for  neither  of 
these    suppositions    have   we   any   sufficient    evidence  ;    al- 


THE  CHURCH  IN  DECLENSION 


49 


though  the  existence  of  such  a  sect,  and  one  imbued  with 
immoral  doctrines  and  practices,  is  well  attested  by  the 
earliest  Christian  authors.  It  is  doubtful  whether  these 
Nicolaitans  were  altogether  distinct  from,  or  nearly  identical 
with,  the  followers  of  *  the  teaching  of  Balaam  '  and  of  '  the 
woman  Jezebel '  (Rev.  ii.  14,  20),  in  subsequent  Epistles. 
There  is  no  doubt,  however,  but  that  all  these  errorists  held 
and  practiced  immoral  doctrines.  Whatever  distinctions 
there  may  have  been  among  them,  they  all  agreed  in  this, 
that  Christian  morality  was  not  essential  to  piety;  than  which 
no  delusion  of  Satan  has  ever  been  more  prevalent  or  more 
fatal.  For  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  there 
was  a  general  divorce  of  morality  from  religion  ;  and  it  was 
this,  far  more  than  the  prevailing  corruption  of  fundamental 
doctrines,  which  made  the  Reformation  an  outcrying  neces- 
sity. Subsequently  it  was  formulated  in  a  doctrine,  and 
defended  in  a  thousand  publications,  by  the  Jesuits  :  nor 
has  Protestantism  accomplished  anything  of  greater  im- 
portance than  the  restoration  of  Scriptural  morality  to 
religion,  so  that  now  any  claims  to  piety  by  an  openly  im- 
moral person  would  be  universally  scouted.  The  Ephesian 
Church  had  not  sunk  to  this  depth  of  spiritual  blindness  ; 
she  still  continued  to  abhor  the  immoralities  of  those  Nico- 
laitans, supported  therein  by  her  Lord's  eternal  loathing  of 
everything  opposed  to  his  own  immaculate  purity. 

7  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the 
churches. 

In  the  commencement  of  the  message,  it  is  represented  as 
spoken  by  the  Lord  in  person,  and  here  by  the  Spirit,  for  the 
Lamb  possesses  the  fulness  of  the  Spirit  (15).  Here,  also,  we 
have  the  command  of  both  in  one,  addressed  to  every  human 
being,  to  give  heed  to  what  is  thus  spoken  to  these  churches, 
as  being  equally  applicable  to  and  intended  for  all. 

7  To  him  that  overcometh,  unto  him  will  I  give  to  eat  of  the  tree 
of  life  which  is  in  the  Paradise  of  God. 

This  promise  refers  to  the  strenuous  conflict  and  warfare 
which  are  inseparable  from  Christian  life  in  this  world.     A 
3 


50 


WISDOM  OF  THE  AFOCAL  YFSE 


similar  one  '  to  him  that  overcometh/  or  conquereth,  is  given 
at  the  close  of  the  other  Epistles.  Here  the  promise  is  that 
he  shall  '  eat  of  the  tree  of  life  which  is  in  the  Paradise  of 
God  ';  and  this  Paradise  is  another  name  for  the  New  Jeru- 
salem, concerning  which  it  is  said:  "In  the  midst  of  the 
street  of  it,  and  on  either  side  of  the  river  [of  life],  was  there 
the  tree  of  life,  bearing  twelve  [growths  of]  fruits,  yielding 
its  fruit  every  month;  and  the  leaves  of  the  tree  were  for 
the  healing  of  the  nations  "  (Rev.  xxii.  2).  This  is  not  the 
place  to  consider  the  full  significance  of  this  tree,  but  evi- 
dently it  must  include  all  that  is  necessary  for  the  nourish- 
ment of  a  perfect  spiritual  life.  It  should  be  observed,  also, 
that  this  reference  at  the  opening  of  the  Apocalypse  to  its 
close  evinces  that  it  is  nothing  of  a  fragmentary  character, 
but  a  connected  whole,  the  end  of  which  is  clearly  foreseen 
from  the  beginning. 

There  are  several  points  of  special  interest  in  this  Epistle, 
to  which  we  should  give  some  further  attention. 

1.  We  have  here  additional  light  upon  the  nature  of  the 
Lord's  Coming,  which  is  the  theme  of  the  book.  For  this 
church  is  warned  that,  unless  she  shall  repent.  He  will  come 
to  her,  and  cause  her  to  cease  from  being  a  church.  Thus 
we  see  that  His  predicted  advent  is  not  that  only  which  shall 
take  place  at  the  millennium  (20).  For  it  seems  that  this 
church  did  not  repent,  nor  recover  her  first  love;  in  conse- 
quence of  which  He  did  come  to  her,  and  executed  His  threat- 
enings  :  and  this  took  place  long  ago  ;  long  ago  she  ceased 
from  being  a  church,  and  even  the  great  city  where  her  seat 
was  is  now  a  desolation. 

2.  The  things  for  which  the  Ephesian  church  is  thus  com- 
mended are,  indeed,  excellent  and  precious  things,  but  they 
could  not  save  her  from  destruction.  It  is  a  blessed  thing 
and  worthy  of  all  praise  for  any  church  to  labor  and  bear 
with  patient  endurance  in  the  cause  of  her  Lord;  to  be  zeal- 
ous in  purging  herself  from  unworthy  members,  and  in 
dealing  with  false  teachers;  to  hate  the  works  of  those  who 
divorce  morality  from  religion,  putting  asunder  what  God 
has  eternally  joined  together;  and  to  do  all  this  persistently, 


THE   CHURCH  IN  DECLENSION 


51 


without  weariness,  for  the  glory  of  her  Lord.  Yet,  as  we 
are  here  instructed,  for  otherwise  we  could  not  believe  it,  all 
these  excellent  graces  may  coexist  with  such  a  declension 
in  love,  such  a  want  of  true  charity,  that,  unless  it  be  repented 
of,  it  must  inevitably  result  in  the  ruin  of  the  church.  For 
charity  is  the  heart  of  ail  the  graces,  without  the  vivifying 
action  of  which  they  cannot  live  :  "  Though  I  speak  with 
the  tongues  of  men  and  of  angels  .  .  and  though  I  have 
prophecy,  and  understand  all  mysteries  and  all  knowledge; 
and  though  I  have  all  faith,  so  as  to  remove  mountains;  but 
have  not  charity  .  .  I  am  become  as  sounding  brass,  or  a 
clanging  symbol  .  .  I  am  nothing"  (i  Cor.  xiii.  1-2).  More- 
over, it  is  instructive  to  have  evidence,  as  in  this  Epistle,  that 
true  charity,  being  full  and  strong,  may  decline  and  be 
lost;  for  this  church  had  possessed  it  in  high  perfection,  and 
had  lost  it,  so  that,  failing  to  recover  it,  she  doomed  herself 
to  destruction.  Even  the  ministry  of  two  great  apostles  could 
not  save  her.  And  what  is  more  common  in  churches  and 
individuals  than  such  declensions  !  How  much  of  our  church 
life  is  here  represented  ! 

3.  How  is  it,  then,  with  us  ?  Have  we  all  or  any  of  these 
excellent  graces  ?  And  if  we  have  them  all,  the  far  more 
searching  question  remains.  Have  we  this  fervor  and  flame 
of  divine  love,  without  which  they  are  all  comparatively 
worthless  in  the  sight  of  Him  who  so  loved  us  that  He  gave 
Himself  to  die  for  us  on  the  cross  ?  Are  we,  as  churches  and 
as  individuals,  filled,  animated,  inspired  with  pure,  fervent, 
self-sacrificing  love  to  Our  Lord  and  our  Christian  brethren  ? 
Do  we  love  Him  more  than  business,  wealth,  honor,  pleasure, 
comfort  ?  Do  we  make  sacrifice  of  these,  or  of  any  earthly 
good,  for  His  glory,  and  the  great  cause  for  which  He  lived 
and  taught  and  suffered  and  died  ?  Do  we  love  our  breth- 
ren in  the  spirit  of  the  precepts:  "Bear  ye  one  another's 
burdens,  and  so  fulfil  the  law  of  Christ  (Gal.  vi.  2).  Having 
the  same  love,  being  of  one  accord,  of  one  mind,  [doing] 
nothing  through  strife  or  vainglory,  but,  in  lowliness  of 
mind,  each  esteeming  others  better  than  themselves  "  ?  (Phil, 
ii.  2).     Do  we  visit,  succor,  comfort,  and  do  them  good,  as 


52 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


we  have  opportunity?  Is  their  prosperity  our  prosperity, 
their  joy  our  joy,  their  poverty  our  poverty,  their  sorrow  our 
sorrow  ?  And  our  love  for  unsaved  souls,  is  it  such  that  we 
pray  without  ceasing,  spare  no  efforts,  make  all  or  any  sac- 
rifices, for  their  salvation  ?  Do  they  lie  as  a  burden  upon 
our  hearts  ?  For  surely  nothing  less  than  this  can  be  that 
charity  without  which  we  are  nothing;  which  the  church  in 
Ephesus  once  possessed,  but  for  the  loss  of  which  she  was 
thus  admonished  to  repentance,  and  for  her  failure  to  re- 
cover which  she  perished. 

4.  If,  then,  we  find  ourselves  wanting  in  this  grace  of  all 
graces,  here  is  our  call  to  repentance,  that  we  may  recover 
it  ;  that  this  divine  love  may  be  kindled  up  again  to  a  glow- 
ing flame  in  our  hearts  ;  that  we  may  love  our  Lord  with  all 
our  hearts,  and  our  neighbors  as  ourselves,  and  that  we  may 
act  and  live  accordingly.  For  thus  only  shall  we,  whether 
as  individuals  or  communities,  escape  the  doom  of  this  highly 
gifted  and  renowned  Ephesian  Church. 


VI 


EPISTLE   TO   THE   CHURCH   IN   SMYRNA      THE   MARTYR 
CHURCH      II  8-1 1 

We  have  here  a  striking  portrait  of  the  martyr  church. 
She  is  in  deep  poverty  with  respect  to  worldly  goods,  but 
she  is  rich  in  grace,  and  in  the  love  of  her  Lord  ;  she  is  in 
great  affliction  from  persecution,  but  in  greater  spiritual 
prosperity  :  a  state  of  things  perhaps  not  so  common  now,, 
but  certainly  not  altogether  peculiar  to  the  martyr  age. 

8  And  unto  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Smyrna  write :  These 
things  saith  the  first  and  the  last,  who  w^as  dead  and  is  alive. 

Smyrna  was  a  great  city  on  the  coast  of  Asia  Minor,  about 
40  miles  north  of  Ephesus.  In  very  ancient  times,  it  had  been 
totally  destroyed  by  an  earthquake  ;  after  which  it  lay  waste 
and  uninhabited  for  400  years,  until  it  was  rebuilt  by  Antig- 
onus,  one  of  the  generals  and  successors  of  Alexander  the 
great,  so  that  it  soon  became  one  of  the  most  beautiful  cities 
in  the  world.  Its  name  signifies  myrrh,  and  ancient  authors 
were  never  weary  in  sounding  its  praise,  calling  it  'the  love- 
ly city,'  'the  ornament  of  Asia,'  'the  crown  of  Ionia.'  It  is 
still  a  very  important  place,  having  a  population  estimated 
at  130,000,  of  which  about  one-fourth  are  Jews  and  Christians. 
Its  foreign  trade,  which  is  mostly  in  their  hands,  is  yet  so  ex- 
tensive that  its  name  is  known  throughout  the  world.  Here, 
at  a  very  early  date,  a  Christian  church  had  been  founded, 
but  by  whose  ministry  we  do  not  know.  It  soon  became 
very  flourishing,  being  renowned  for  piety  and  for  the  con- 
stancy of  its  martyrs  and  confessors.  Such  was  its  spiritual 
state  when  it  was  addressed  in  this  Epistle  ;  for  it  is  not  re- 
buked at  all,  but  is  highly  commended,  and  only  exhorted  to 
perseverance.     Hence,  unlike  that  of  Ephesus,  and  several 

(53) 


54 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSR 


Other  of  these  churches,  it  seems  never  to  have  become  ex- 
tinct ;  for  there  are  two  ancient  Christian  communities  in 
the  city  at  the  present  time. 

We  do  not  certainly  know  who  was  the  angel  or  pastor  of 
the  church  to  whom  this  Epistle  is  addressed,  but,  in  all 
probability,  he  was  the  venerable  Polycarp,  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  and  one  of  the  most 
glorious  martyrs  of  all  time.  His  name  signifies  a  bearer  of 
much  fruit,  and  was  given  him,  no  doubt,  in  baptism,  for,  on 
account  of  its  happy  significance,  it  very  early  became  a 
favorite  baptismal  name.  It  is  related  of  him,  that  he  was 
born  a  slave,  and  was  purchased  when  an  infant  by  a 
wealthy  Christian  lady  named  Calisto,  who  caused  him  to 
be  carefully  educated,  and,  at  her  death,  left  him  heir  to  her 
great  estate,  all  of  which,  however,  he  soon  expended  in 
charity.  In  his  youth,  he  became  a  disciple  of  St.  John  ; 
and,  indeed,  at  the  time  of  this  Epistle,  he  must  have  been 
quite  a  young  man  ;  for  he  continued  in  his  pastorate  at 
Smyrna  50  years  afterwards,  and  obtained  the  martyr's  crown 
about  the  year  146  at  a  remote  old  age.  During  his  long 
pastorate  in  this  important  church,  he  exerted  a  great  and 
benign  influence  in  Asia  Minor,  and,  indeed,  throughout  the 
Christian  world.  A  long  and  eloquent  Epistle,  which  he 
wrote  to  the  church  in  Philippi,  is  still  extant,  in  which  he 
quotes  largely  from  our  four  Gospels  and  from  most  of  the 
writings  of  the  apostles,  enforcing  their  teachings,  especially 
those  bearing  upon  the  unity  of  the  church,  with  apostolic 
tenderness  and  power.  In  fact,  it  reads  very  like  Canonical 
Scripture. 

We  have  a  full  account  of  his  martyrdom  in  a  circular 
letter  which  the  church  in  Smyrna  addressed  to  her  sister 
churches  throughout  the  Roman  empire;  from  which  we  learn 
that  a  raging  persecution  had  fallen  upon  that  church,  to 
which  the  heathen  authorities  had  been  stirred  up  by  the 
restless  malignity  of  the  Jews.  It  reached  at  last  their  ven- 
erated pastor,  who  was  arrested  and  brought  to  trial  before 
the  Proconsul  of  the  province  ;  who  seems  to  have  been  a 
humane  person,  for  he  tried  all  means  in  his  power  to  save 


THE  MAR  T  YR  CHURCH  5  5 

Polycarp's  life.  He  exhorted  him  personally,  with  many 
earnest  words,  not  to  persist  in  Christian  confession,  saying, 
"  Reverence  thy  great  age  ;  swear  by  Cesar's  fortune  ;  what 
harm  is  there  in  saying.  Lord  Cesar,  or  in  sacrificing,  when 
it  is  to  save  thy  life  ?  Swear,  then,  reproach  Christ,  and  I 
will  set  thee  at  liberty."  To  this,  and  much  more  of  like  im- 
port, Polycarp  answered :  "  Eighty  and  six  years  have  I 
served  Christ,  and  He  has  never  done  me  any  harm  :  how, 
then,  can  I  blaspheme  my  King  and  my  Saviour?"  Failing 
in  his  exhortations,  the  Proconsul  tried  him  with  threats, 
saying,  "  I  have  wild  beasts  ready,  I  will  cast  thee  unto  them, 
unless  thou  change  thy  mind."  But  the  saint  replied,  "  Call 
for  them,  then,  for  we  Christians  are  fixed  never  to  change 
from  good  to  bad."  Still  the  pagan  magistrate  seems  to  have 
felt  that  he  could  not  give  him  up,  for  he  added,  "Since  thou 
despisest  the  wild  beasts,  I  will  cause  thee  to  be  devoured  by 
fire,  unless  thou  change  thy  mind."  But  our  Christian  hero 
answered  him,  "  Thou  threatenest  me  with  the  fire  that  burns 
for  an  hour,  but  thou  knowest  not  the  fire  of  the  future  judg- 
ment, nor  of  that  everlasting  punishment  which  is  reserved 
for  the  ungodly.  But  why  dost  thou  tarry?  Bring  forth 
whatever  thou  wilt."  The  Proconsul,  finding  all  his  efforts 
to  save  him  in  vain,  and  being  obliged  to  execute  the  laws  of 
the  empire  against  Christians,  caused  it  to  be  proclaimed 
throughout  the  city,  that  Polycarp  had  confessed  himself  a 
Christian  :  whereupon  both  the  heathen  and  Jewish  inhabit- 
ants united  in  one  tumultuous  cr}-,  that  he  should  be  put  to 
death.  Accordingly  he  was  led  to  the  stake.  But  when  they 
were  going  to  bind  him  to  it,  he  said,  "Let  me  alone  as  I  am, 
for  He  who  has  given  me  strength  thus  far  will  enable  me 
to  stand  in  the  fire  without  being  bound."  Then  whilst  he 
prayed  aloud,  the  flames  were  kindled  up  around  him.  Such 
was  the  way  in  which  this  great  and  heroic  soul  obtained  the 
martyr's  crown,  in  fulfilment  of  the  words  of  his  Lord  :  "  Be 
thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will  give  thee  the  crown  of 
life  "  (Rev.  ii.  10). 

In  the  words,  *  These  things  saith  the  first  and  the  last, 
who  was  dead  and  alive,'  the  Lord  refers  to  the  more  full 


55  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

characterization  of  Himself  in  the  opening  vision,  in  order  to 
recall  the  whole  of  it,  as  follows:  "  I  am  the  first  and  the  last, 
and  the  living  One  ;  and  I  was  dead,  and,  beliold,  I  am  alive; 
and  I  hold  the  keys  of  Death  and  of  Hades."  Thus  He 
encourages  His  persecuted  people  in  Smyrna  by  his  own 
example,  in  that  He  Himself  had  suffered  martyrdom,  yet 
had  been  raised  up  again  unto  such  power  and  glory  that  He 
was  now  the  Lord  of  Death  and  of  all  his  dark  realm.  For 
even  though  they  should  be  called  to  suffer  death  in  His 
cause,  it  could  do  them  no  more  harm  than  it  had  done  to 
him,  but  should  be  the  means  of  exalting  them  to  the  like 
power  and  glory, 

9  I  know  thy  works  and  thy  tribulation  and  thy  poverty  (but  thou 
art  rich)  and  the  blasphemy  of  those  who  say  they  are  Jews,  and  are 
not,  but  are  a  synagogue  of  Satan. 

There  is  some  uncertainty  whether  'thy  works'  here  are 
genuine  ;  but  if  so,  they  must  be  taken  in  a  good  sense,  as 
there  is  no  rebuke,  only  praise.  All  such  works  are  favorably 
known  unto  the  Lord,  v/ho  holds  them  in  everlasting  remem- 
brance, that  He  may  bestow  upon  the  doers  of  them  all  gra- 
cious rewards  :  "  For  their  works  do  follow  them  (Rev.  xiv. 
13).  God  is  not  unrighteous  to  forget  your  work,  and 
the  love  which  ye  have  shown  toward  His  name "  (Heb. 
vi,  10).  The  'tribulation  and  poverty'  of  His  people  in  Smyrna, 
including  all  their  temporal  sorrows,  especially  the  spoiling 
of  their  goods  by  their  ruthless  persecutors,  were  equally 
well  and  favorably  known  to  their  compassionate  Lord,  and 
awaited  like  rewards  at  His  hands.  Meanwhile,  in  gracious 
compensation,  they  were  enriched  with  the  imperishable 
wealth  of  His  love  and  blessing,  and  with  all  precious  graces 
of  Christian  character.  They  did  not  have  to  wait  for  their 
treasure  laid  up  in  heaven  by  their  good  works.  For  poverty 
in  this  world's  goods  is  often  a  blessed  means  of  spiritual 
enriching,  because  it  cherishes  the  sentiments  of  helplessness 
in  ourselves  and  of  dependence  upon  our  Heavenly  Father's 
care,  and  opens  our  hearts  to  receive  the  supplies  which  He 
has   so   abundantly   provided   for   all   our   spiritual  wants. 


THE  MARTYR  CHURCH  57 

Hence  that  matchless  tenderness  for  the  poor  which  over- 
flows from  His  full  heart  in  all  the  Scriptures,  as  in  the 
words  of  Jesus  :  '*  Blessed  are  ye  poor,  for  yours  is  the  king- 
dom of  God  "  (Luke  vi.  20).  On  the  other  hand,  worldly 
wealth  is  no  less  frequently  a  cause  of  the  deepest  spiritual 
poverty,  because  it  tends  to  self-sufficiency,  pride,  vanity, 
and  provides  the  means  for  excessive  indulgence  in  earthly 
and  sensual  gratifications.  Hence  the  declaration,  which  is 
one  of  great  practical  significance,  though  it  be  expressed  in 
a  strong  oriental  hyperbole  :  '*  It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go 
through  a  needle's  eye  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God"  (Mat.  xix.  24).  'The  blasphemy'  here 
refers  to  the  atrocious  calumnies  of  the  Jews  against  the 
Christians,  by  which  they  constantly  incited  the  pagans  to 
persecution,  as  we  have  just  seen  in  the  martyrdom  of  Poly- 
carp.  For  Smyrna,  which  has  now  a  Jewish  population  esti- 
mated at  9,000  souls,  had  then,  no  doubt,  a  much  larger  one  ; 
and  they,  persisting  in  their  blind  unbelief,  and  raging  with 
calumnious  blasphemies  against  the  church,  could  no  longer 
be  properly  called  Jews,  the  Israel  of  God,  but  were  in  truth 
a  synagogue  of  Satan. 

10  Fear  not  the  things  which  thou  must  suffer  :  behold  the  devil  is 
about  to  cast  some  of  you  into  prison,  that  ye  may  be  tempted  ;  and 
ye  shall  have  tribulation  ten  days :  be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and 
I  will  give  thee  the  crown  of  life. 

We  have  here  a  prophecy  which  was  fulfilled,  in  part  at 
least,  by  the  martyrdom  of  their  beloved  pastor.  But  they 
must  not  be  afraid  of  anything  they  might  be  called  to  suf- 
fer ;  for  the  fear  of  temporal  calamities  is  an  unchristian 
feelinr^,  one  that  often  paralyzes  the  faculties  of  the  soul,  and 
results  in  suicide.  Hence  we  are  often  cautioned  against  it, 
as  in  those  ever  memorable  words  of  the  Lord  :  "  I  say  unto 
you,  my  friends,  be  not  afraid  of  them  that  kill  the  body, 
and  after  that  have  nothing  more  that  they  can  do  ;  but  I 
will  forewarn  you  whom  )^e  shall  fear :  fear  Him  who,  after 
He  hath  killed,  hath  power  to  cast  into  hell ;  yea,  I  say  unto 
you,  fear  Him  "  (Luke  xii.  4-5).  For  the  fear  of  God  casts 
out  all  other  fears;  and  is  itself  -n  a  legal  or  servile  sense, 
3* 


58  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

cast  out  by  love  ;  which  more  than  fills  its  place,  because  it 
is  a  nobler  and  stronger  motive  to  self-sacrifice  and  devotion: 
"There  is  no  fear  in  love,  but  perfect  love  casteth  out  fear, 
because  fear  hath  punishment :  he  that  feareth  is  not  made 
perfect  in  love"  (i  John  iv.  i8).  But  nothing  short  of  per- 
fect love  has  any  rightful  authority  to  cast  out  the  motive  of 
fear. 

Here,  also,  we  have  one  of  those  unveilings  of  the  spiritual 
world  which,  though  not  peculiar  to  this  book,  are  yet  its 
most  distinctive  character.  For  the  agency  of  Satan  in  these 
persecutions,  which  was  veiled  under  the  enmity  of  Jews 
and  pagans,  is  here  disclosed.  It  was  their  great  spiritual 
adversary  who  would  bring  upon  the  Smyrncean  Christians 
all  these  afflictions,  that  they  m.ight  be  tempted  to  apostatize. 
But  they  were  not  to  be  afraid  even  of  him,  for  he  was 
already  a  conquered  enemy  ;  and  all  his  malice  should  be 
overruled  in  furtherance  of  the  gracious  object  which  their 
Lord  had  in  view,  namely,  that  their  faith  and  patience 
might  be  tried,  purified,  confirmed,  and  perfected.  For  this 
is  the  object  of  all  the  temptations  to  which  His  people  are 
subjected,  as  copiously  exhibited  in  His  word  :  "  Beloved, 
think  it  not  strange  concerning  the  fire  which  cometh  upon 
you  for  your  temptation,  as  though  some  strange  thing  hap- 
pened unto  you  ;  but  rejoice  inasmuch  as  ye  are  partakers  of 
the  sufferings  of  Christ,  in  order  that,  in  the  unveiling  of  His 
glory,  ye  may  rejoice  with  exceeding  joy  (i  Pet.  iv.  12-13). 
Having  been  put  to  grief  by  manifold  temptations,  that  the 
trial  of  your  faith,  much  more  precious  than  gold  which 
perisheth,  and  it  is  tried  by  fire,  might  be  found  unto  praise 
and  honor  and  glory  at  the  unveiling  of  Jesus  Christ  (i. 
6-7).  Count  it  all  joy,  my  brethren,  when  ye  fall  into 
manifold  temptations,  knowing  that  the  trial  of  your  faith 
worketh  patience  ;  and  let  patience  have  its  perfect  work, 
that  ye  may  be  perfect  and  entire  wanting  nothing"  (James 
i.  2-4).  Such  is  the  gracious  object  of  all  the  sufferings 
through  which  the  Lord's  people  are  ever  called  to  pass, 
even  though  Satan  may  be  ever  so  much  concerned  in  them, 
and  wicked  men,  the  instruments   of   his   malice  :    a  great 


THE  MARTYR  CHURCH 


59 


lesson   truly,    and   one   well   worthy   of    being   learned    by 
heart. 

As  to  the  symbolical  meaning  of  the  number  'ten,'  it  is  not 
very  clear,  but  that  of  definite  limitation  seems  best  to  agree 
with  all  the  instances  in  which  it  is  used.  Followed  by 
'days,'  as  here,  it  probably  signifies  a  comparatively  short 
time.  Hence  the  statement  that  'the  church  should  have 
tribulation  ten  days  '  seems  intended  to  assure  her  that  her 
trials  should  not  be  indefinitely  prolonged  ;  that  their  ter- 
mination was  already  foreseen;  and,  indeed,  her  persecutions 
did  come  to  an  end  when  Constantine,  the  first  Christian 
emperor,  came  to  the  throne.  But  even  if  their  sufferings 
individually  should  continue  as  long  as  they  lived,  and 
should  end  in  martyrdom,  yet  their  patient  endurance  should 
be  accepted  as  fidelity  to  their  Lord,  for  which  they  should 
receive  '  the  crown  of  life '  at  His  hands.  This  crown  is  the 
same  referred  to  by  St.  Paul  in  that  burst  of  triumph  just 
before  his  martyrdom  :  "  I  am  now  poured  out  in  sacrifice, 
and  the  time  of  my  departure  is  come  :  I  have  fought  the 
good  fight  ;  I  have  finished  the  course  ;  I  have  kept  the 
faith  :  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  right- 
eousness, which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  judge,  will  give  unto 
me  at  that  day ;  and  not  unto  me  only,  but  also  to  all  them 
that  love  His  appearing  "  (2  Tim.  iv.  6-8).  St.  Peter  also 
speaks  of  it  as  follows:  "When  the  chief  shepherd  shall 
appear,  ye  shall  receive  the  fadeless  crown  of  glory  "  (i  Pet. 
vi.  4).  Symbolically  it  represents,  (i)  as  being  a  crown,  royal 
authority  and  power,  for  the  Lord's  saved  people  are  '  kings,' 
and  share  His  throne  (Rev.  iii.  21) ;  (2)  as  a  crown  of  right- 
eousness, that  their  righteousness  is  now  perfect ;  (3)  as  a 
crown  of  glory,  that  they  are  partakers  of  all  glory  ;  (4)  as  a 
crown  of  life  that  never  fades,  it  signifies  immortality  ;  (5) 
and  as  bestowed  upon  them  by  the  Lord,  the  reward  of  their 
victory  in  their  earthly  conflicts.  In  fine,  there  seems  to  be 
a  pointed  allusion  to  this  promise,  '  Be  thou  faithful  unto 
death,  and  I  will  give  thee  the  crown  of  life,'  in  the  follow- 
ing words  of  the  ■  church's  circular  letter  concerning  the 
martyrdom  of  her  pastor  :  "  By  his  patience  he  overcame 


60  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

the  unrighteous   ruler  and   received   the  crown  of  immor- 
tality." 

II  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto 
the  churches  (49).  He  that  overcometh  shall  not  be  hurt  by  the  second 
death. 

'The  second  death/  as  subsequently  interpreted,  is  'the 
lake  that  burneth  with  fire  and  brimstone  '  (Rev.  xx.  14). 
This  promise  to  him  that  overcometh  signifies,  therefore, 
that  hell  itself  shall  have  no  power  over  him,  and  implies 
that  he  shall  possess  all  the  blessings  of  the  saved.  Given  in 
this  form,  it  is  eminently  appropriate  to  the  martyr  church, 
as  a  motive  for  her  to  be  '  faithful  unto  death.' 

Such  are  the  words  of  praise  and  encouragement  which  the 
Lord  here  addresses  to  His  beloved  church  in  Smyrna,  with- 
out one  expression  of  disapprobation  or  reproof.  O  glorious 
and  happy  church  in  having  such  a  pastor  as  Polycarp  for  so 
many  years,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  such  blessed  spiritual 
wealth  and  prosperity  !  O  happy  pastor,  in  being  permitted 
to  minister  to  such  a  people  !  Well  might  they  bear  with 
patience  their  poverty,  persecutions,  and  martyrdoms,  to 
whom  their  Lord  could  speak  such  comforting  words  !  No 
wonder  this  church  never  became  extinct,  and  that  Smyrna, 
in  such  marked  contrast  with  other  cities  where  the  churches 
were  unfaithful,  has  been  preserved  as  a  populous  and  pros- 
perous place  to  the  present  time  ! 

There  are  two  ideas,  among  many  others,  in  this  Epistle 
which  require  to  be  specially  emphasized  for  the  instruction 
and  consolation  of  God's  dear  children. 

I.  We  see  here  that  it  is  possible  and  practicable  for  us  to 
live  in  this  world  so  that  our  blessed  Lord  shall  have  no  need 
to  censure  or  rebuke  us  ;  so  that  He  will  have  nothing  to  say 
to  us  but  words  of  commendation  and  praise.  This,  I  am 
sure,  is  not  commonly  understood  as  here  represented  ;  and 
it  is  of  such  importance  that  we  shall  find  it  again  in  another 
of  these  Epistles.  Let  us  be  instructed,  then,  by  the  example 
of  the  Christians  in  Smyrna,  and  be  animated  by  a  holy 
desire  and  expectation  of  so  living  as  to  enjoy  the  Master's 


THE  MARTYR  CHURCH  6 1 

constant  approval ;  so  that  now,  as  well  as  in  the  last  day, 
He  may  say  to  us  :  ''Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant" 
(Mat.  XXV.  2i). 

2.  Here,  also,  we  see  the  power  of  merited  praise  to  quicken 
and  ripen  Christian  graces.  For  we  cannot  think  that  the 
Lord  so  commended  His  people  in  Smyrna  without  design 
to,  strengthen  and  perfect  them  in  those  graces  for  which  they 
were  so  eminently  distinguished.  This  also  I  am  afraid  we 
do  not  always  understand  as  we  ought,  or  pastors  would 
more  frequently  and  heartily  commend  their  people  for  their 
liberality,  faith,  love,  zeal,  and  self-sacrifice,  even  when  these 
graces  may  be  only  as  grains  of  mustard  seed,  in  order  that 
they  may  become  trees,  and  the  birds  of  the  air  may  come 
and  lodge  in  their  branches.  We  need  not  be  afraid  of 
doing  harm  ;  we  have  our  Lord's  example  to  warrant  us  ; 
He  teaches  us  what  to  do.  And,  as  private  Christians,  we 
ought  not  to  be  backward  to  recognize  in  each  other,  with 
expressions  of  sympathy  and  encouragement,  these  graces, 
as  they  manifest  themselves,  even  though  they  may  still  be 
feeble  and  imperfect,  in  order  to  strengthen  and  perfect 
them. 


VII 

EPISTLE  TO  THE  CHURCH  IN  PERGAMUS  THE  CHURCH 
INFESTED  WITH  IMMORAL  DOCTRINES  AND  IN  NEGLECT 
OF  DISCIPLINE      II  12-17 

This  Epistle  represents  the  church  as  infested  with  immoral 
doctrines  and  practices,  from  which  she  neglects  to  purify 
herself  by  the  holy  ordinance  of  discipline,  yet  as  still 
holding  fast,  in  the  main,  to  the  faith  of  her  Lord. 

12  And  unto  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Pergamus  write  :  These 
things  saith  He  that  hath  the  sharp  two-edged  sword. 

Pergamus,  or  Pergamum,  was  another  great  city  of  Pro- 
consular Asia,  about  30  miles  north  of  Smyrna,  on  the  river 
Caicus,  in  an  extensive  plain,  which  for  beauty  and  fertility 
was  said  to  be  equal  to  any  in  the  world.  In  former  times, 
it  had  been  very  celebrated  as  the  capital  of  the  kingdom  of 
Attains,  another  of  the  successors  of  the  conqueror  Alex- 
ander ;  also,  for  a  magnificent  library  of  200,000  volumes,  or 
rolls  of  manuscript,  which  was  presented  by  Mark  Antony 
the  triumvir,  and  one  of  the  great  plunderers  of  the  world, 
to  his  mistress,  Queen  Cleopatra,  who  removed  it  to  Alex- 
andria in  Egypt.  It  was  in  this  literary  city  that  the  dress- 
ing of  skins  for  writing  material  was  either  invented  or  per- 
fected, whence  we  have  the  word  parchment  from  Pergamum. 
It  was  rich  in  splendid  public  buildings  and  in  works  of  art 
generally,  so  that  it  has  been  described  as  '  a  city  of  temples, 
a  pagan  cathedral  city.'  Late  excavations  upon  its  site  have 
discovered  remains  of  some  of  the  most  magnificent  temples 
the  world  has  ever  seen  ;  also,  a  stupendous  open-air  altar, 
more  than  123  feet  long,  113  wide,  and  40  high,  covered  with 
elaborate  sculptures  of  the  wars  of  gods  and  giants,  and  of 
other  mythological  subjects,  all  in  the  best  style  of  Greek 
.      (62) 


THE  CHURCH  IN  NEGLECT  OF  DISCIPLINE  63 

art.  The  city,  now  called  Bergamo,  has  a  population  of 
about  14,000  souls  ;  and  among  the  ruins  of  its  ancient 
splendor  are  found  the  remains  of  several  church  buildings. 
Here,  then,  in  this  centre  of  pagan  culture,  long  before  the 
close  of  the  first  century,  a  Christian  church  had  been  estab- 
lished, but  by  whom,  or  who  was  its  pastor  at  this  time,  we 
do  not  know.  Conjectures  upon  these  points  have  been 
hazarded,  but  they  do  not  seem  to  be  of  much  value. 

In  this  Epistle,  the  Lord  speaks  as  'having  the  sharp  two- 
edged  sword,'  which  has  appeared  before  in  the  opening 
vision,  and  represents,  as  we  have  seen  (37),  the  word  of  God. 
Appropriately  it  is  the  weapon  with  which  He  is  about  to 
smite  this  church  for  her  sin  of  tolerating  in  her  communion 
those  who  hold  and  practice  immoral  doctrines.  But,  first, 
she  is  highly  commended  for  her  fidelity  and  constancy  in 
other  respects,  in  the  midst  of  abounding  corruptions,  and 
under  persecution  from  v/hich  one,  at  least,  of  her  members 
has  suffered  martyrdom. 

13  I  know  where  thou  dwellest,  where  the  throne  of  Satan  is:  and 
thou  holdest  fast  my  name  ;  and  thou  didst  not  deny  my  faith,  even  in 
the  days  when  Antipas  was  my  faithful  martyr,  who  was  slain  among 
you,  where  Satan  dwelleth. 

Here  we  learn  that  Pergamus  had  the  bad  eminence  of 
being  in  some  peculiar  sense  the  throne  of  Satan.  For,  as 
we  have  just  seen,  it  was  a  centre  of  pagan  literature,  art, 
and  culture,  which  were  always  and  everywhere  bitter 
enemies  to  the  cross  and  the  truth  of  Christ.  It  was  also  the 
seat  of  the  supreme  court  of  the  province,  and  hence  a 
nucleus  of  judicial  persecution.  Moreover,  it  was  distin- 
guished for  its  numerous  forms  of  idolatry,  being  a  chosen 
seat  of  the  worship  of  Zeus,  Dionysius  or  Bacchus,  Athene  or 
Minerva,  to  whom  the  altar  above  described  was  dedicated, 
and  Aesculapius  ;  the  last  of  whom,  as  the  god  of  medicine 
and  the  healing  art,  was  worshipped  under  the  symbol  of  a 
living  serpent,  which  was  fed  and  tended  by  the  priests  in  a 
sumptuous  temple.  Now,  when  we  remember  that  through- 
out the  Scriptures  and  especially  in  these  visions,  the  dragon 


64  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

or  serpent  is  the  chosen  symbol  of  Satan,  it  seems  altogether 
probable  that  this  serpent-worship  was  one  reason,  at  least, 
why  Pergamus  is  here  called  his  throne.  But  notwithstand- 
ing such  idolatries  and  oppositions  of  pagan  learning  and 
culture,  this  church  had  maintained  a  high  degree  of  fidelity 
to  her  Lord.  For  she  had  not  denied  His  faith,  but  had  held 
fast  His  name,  which  here,  as  elsewhere,  stands  for  His  person, 
with  special  reference  to  public  confession.  In  the  main, 
she  had  continued  faithful  to  Him  in  His  divine  and  human 
personality  and  mediatorial  offices,  both  in  confession  and 
life  ;  and  this,  under  persecution  which  had  resulted  in  the 
martyrdom  of  one  of  her  members,  Antipas  by  name,  whom 
the  Lord  here  honors  for  all  time,  as  having  been,  in  his 
witness-bearing,  faithful  unto  death.  We  know  nothing 
more  about  him,  except  perhaps  from  an  ancient  tradition 
that  he  was  the  pastor  of  the  church,  for,  as  such,  he  is  com- 
memorated to  this  day  in  the  Roman  martyrology.  But 
whoever  he  was,  it  is  certain  that  he  now  rejoices  in  his 
martyr's  crown. 

14  But  I  have  a  few  things  against  thee  :  that  thou  hast  there  those 
who  hold  fast  the  teaching  of  Balaam  who  taught  Balak  to  cast  a 
stumbling  block  before  the  sons  of  Israel,  to  eat  things  sacrificed  unto 
idols,  and  to  commit  fornication  ;  15  so  hast  thou  them  also  who  hold 
fast  the  teaching  of  the  Nicolaitans,  in  like  manner. 

Notwithstanding  the  high  meed  of  praise  given  to  this 
church,  there  were  some  things  in  her  which  must  be  cor- 
rected ;  the  chief  of  which  was,  that  she  retained  in  her 
bosom  these  errorists  in  the  fundamental  matter  of  Christian 
morality,  when  she  ought  either  to  have  purified  them  by 
subjecting  them  to  faithful  discipline,  or  herself  by  casting 
them  out  of  her  communion.  The  history  of  Balaam,  here 
referred  to,  ought  to  throw  all  the  light  we  need  upon  the 
errors  of  these  followers  of  his  teaching  and  example.  For 
we  read  that  he  was  hired  by  Balak,  king  of  Moab,  to  curse 
Israel,  because  he  had  the  reputation  of  being  a  great 
prophet,  and  certainly  he  was  inspired  to  deliver  some  grand 
prophecies.     On    this  occasion,   God    prohibited   him   from 


THE  CHURCH  IN  NEGLECT  OF  DISCIPLINE 


65 


cursing,  and  put  into  his  mouth  words  of  blessing,  especially 
that  glorious  prediction  : 

There  shall  come  forth  a  star  out  of  Jacob, 

And  a  sceptre  shall  rise  out  of  Israel  (Num.  xxiv.  17). 

Subsequently,  however,  in  order  to  earn  his  hire,  he  coun- 
seled Balak  to  hold  an  idolatrous  feast,  and  to  induce  the 
Israelites  to  attend  it  (Num.  xxxi.  16).  Now  such  feasts 
were  commonly  celebrated  with  rites  of  abominable  licen- 
tiousness. It  was  so  in  this  case,  and  the  frail  '  sons  of 
Israel '  fell  into  the  *  snare  ';  for  that  is  the  primary  meaning 
of  the  word  here  rendered  '  stumbling  block.'  Thus  they 
incurred  the  wrath  of  God,  and  perished  to  the  number  of 
24,000  b}^  a  pestilence  which  fell  upon  them  in  the  midst  of 
their  obscene  orgies.  In  allusion  to  this  history,  a  sect  of 
errorists,  who  arose  in  the  primitive  church,  were  called 
Balaamites  ;  and  they  are  characterized  by  St.  Peter  in  the 
following  terrible  passage :  "  They  walk  after  the  flesh, 
and  despise  government.  Presumptuous,  self-willed,  they 
tremble  not  to  blaspheme  dignities.  ...  As  unreason- 
ing animals  by  nature,  made  to  be  taken  and  destroyed, 
they  blaspheme  things  which  they  understand  not  ;  and 
in  their  destruction  shall  be  utterly  destroyed,  receiv- 
ing the  wages  of  iniquity  ;  thinking  it  pleasure  to  riot 
in  the  day  time,  spots  and  blemishes,  rioting  in  their  love 
feasts,  while  they  feast  with  you  ;  having  eyes  full  of  adul- 
tery, that  cannot  cease  from  sin  ;  beguiling  unstable  souls  ; 
having  a  heart  exercised  with  covetous  practices  ;  children 
of  cursing  ;  forsaking  the  right  way,  they  went  astray,  having 
followed  the  way  of  Balaam  the  son  of  Beor,  who  loved  the 
wages  of  iniquity,  and  was  rebuked  for  his  transgression  ; 
the  dumb  ass,  speaking  with  man's  voice,  checked  the  mad- 
ness of  the  prophet.  These  are  springs  without  water, 
clouds  driven  by  the  tempest,  for  whom  is  reserved  the 
blackness  of  darkness  forever.  For  uttering  great  swelling 
words  of  vanity,  they  entice  by  the  lusts  of  flesh,  by  lascivious- 
ness,  those  who  are  just  escaping  from  them  that  live  in 
error  ;  promising  them  liberty,  while  they  themselves  are  the 
slaves   of   corruption "   (2    Pet.    ii.    10-19).      St.   Jude,   also, 


(£  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

describes  them  at  equal  length  and  in  similar  terms,  especially 
as  those  '  who  ran  greedily  in  the  error  of  Balaam  foi 
reward'  (Jude  4-16). 

Such  were  the  distinguishing  traits  of  these  Balaamites,  i.e. 
they  were  openly  licentious,  they  were  ready  to  commit  any 
iniquity  for  hire,  and  they  held  a  doctrine  or  teaching  by 
which  they  justified  themselves  in  these  abominations,  as  not 
inconsistent  with  piet)''  :  in  all  which,  as  has  been  said,  there 
is  little  doubt  but  that  the  Nicolaitans,  with  whatsoever 
minor  differences,  agreed  with  them  (49). 

16  Repent,  therefore ;  or  else  I  will  come  unto  thee  quickly,  and 
•will  war  against  them  with  the  sword  of  my  mouth. 

Thus  the  church  is  rebuked  and  admonished  to  repentance 
for  her  sin  of  retaining  these  immoral  errorists  in  her  com- 
munion, as  well  she  might  be  ;  and  she  is  threatened  with  a 
speedy  visitation  of  her  Lord  in  judgment,  if  she  fail  to 
repent  and  reform.  Here,  then,  we  have  another  proof  that 
His  coming,  which  is  the  theme  of  the  book,  is  not  limited  to 
that  which  will  take  place  at  the  millennium  (50).  By  what 
influences  this  church,  with  all  her  excellencies  of  Christian 
character,  had  been  led  into  this  neglect  of  necessary  disci- 
pline, we  do  not  know.  But  probably  these  corrupt  members 
had  powerful  connections,  some  of  them,  perhaps,  interesting 
families,  and  she  was  afraid  of  plucking  up  the  wheat  with 
the  tares.  Nor  is  it  clear  what  special  judgment  is  threat- 
ened against  her,  but  she  is  solemnly  warned  that  her  tender- 
ness for  her  immoral  members  shall  not  save  them  ;  for  the 
Lord  will  come  quickly  and  make  war  upon  them  with  the 
sword  of  His  mouth  (37) ;  by  which  is  meant,  no  doubt,  that 
He  will  inflict  upon  them  all  the  judgments  and  threaten- 
ings  of  His  word  against  covetousness,  licentiousness,  and 
whatsoever  other  immoralities  of  which  they  were  guilty. 

17  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the 
churches  (49).  To  him  that  overcometh,  unto  him  will  I  give  of  the 
hidden  manna ;  and  I  will  give  him  a  white  stone,  and  upon  the  stone 
a  new  name  written,  which  no  man  know^eth  but  he  that  receiveth  it. 

The  manna  with  which  the  Israelites  were  fed  in  the  wil- 
derness, as  being  nothing  of  earthly  growth,  or  human  pro- 


THE  CHURCH  IN  NEGLECT  OF  DISCIPLINE  6/ 

duction,  but  coming  down  out  of  heaven,  is  taken  by  the 
Lord  as  a  type  of  Himself  :  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you, 
Moses  gave  you  not  the  bread  from  heaven,  but  my  Father 
giveth  you  the  true  bread  from  heaven  ;  for  the  bread  of  God 
is  He  who  cometh  down  from  heaven,  and  giveth  life  unto  the 
world.  ...  I  am  the  bread  of  life.  .  .  .  This  is  the  bread  which 
came  down  from  heaven  ;  not  as  your  fathers  did  eat  manna, 
and  are  dead  ;  he  that  eateth  of  this  bread  shall  live  forever" 
(John  vi.  32-58).  Hence  this  promise  to  the  conqueror  is,  that 
the  Lord  will  give  unto  him  Himself,  the  Word  that  was  made 
flesh,  in  order  that  He  may  become  the  food  of  the  soul 
unto  eternal  life,  as  represented  in  the  sacrament  of  the  Holy 
Supper.  This  heavenly  manna  is  said  to  be  'hidden'  in  the 
sense  in  which  Christ  in  the  soul  is  called  'the  hidden  man 
of  the  heart'  (i  Pet.  iii.  4),  and  of  the  words,  'Your  life  is  hid 
with  Christ  in  God'  (Col.  iii.  3),  i.e.  as  being  altogether  un- 
discernible  by  the  faculties  of  the  natural  man.  The  white 
stone,  which  also  shall  be  given,  contains  an  allusion  to  the 
ancient  custom  of  giving  white  stones  to  those  who  were 
acquitted  and  justified  in  judgment,  and  to  those  who  con- 
quered in  the  contests  of  the  public  games.  Hence,  and 
since  white  is  the  color  of  purity  and  victory  (35),  it  is  to  be 
taken  here  as  the  symbol  of  the  earnest  or  pledge  of  ultimate 
and  complete  victory  over  temptation,  of  personal  salvation 
from  the  impurities  of  sin,  and  of  acquittal  and  perfect  jus- 
tification from  offences  ;  all  which  proceed  from  the  indwell- 
ing and  manifestation  of  Christ  in  the  soul.  In  fine,  this 
new  name  graven  on  the  stone  to  signify  that  it  is  inefface- 
able, '  which  no  man  knoweth  but  he  that  receiveth  it,'  sym- 
bolizes the  new  nature,  which  is  constituted  by  the  mystical 
union  of  the  Lord  with  each  member  of  His  body,  and  of 
which  the  world,  of  course,  can  know  nothing.  The  mean- 
ing of  the  whole  symbol,  therefore,  is,  that  the  conqueror  in 
his  earthly  conflicts  shall  have  Christ,  as  the  Word  of  God, 
for  the  food  of  his  spiritual  nature,  whereby  the  life  of  Christ 
shall  become  life  eternal  in  him,  and  he  shall  enjoy  full 
assurance  of  justification  and  salvation. 

I.  The  instructions  and  admonitions  of  this  Epistle  seem  to 


68  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

apply  with  special  emphasis  to  the  whole  church  at  the  pres- 
ent time  ;  for  her  feebleness  in  discipline  is  a  subject  of  gen- 
eral remark.  How  many  scandalous  immoralities  are  con- 
stantly occurring  among  her  members  !  How  freqvient  are 
the  defalcations  in  banks  and  other  fiduciary  institutions  ; 
fraudulent  aboise  of  trust  funds,  and  other  betrayals  of  trust  ; 
stealing  from  employers,  and  other  thefts  ;  breaches  of  the 
marriage  vow  by  unscriptural  divorce,  and  other  forms  of  li- 
centiousness :  in  which  the  offenders  are  church  members, 
church  officers,  superintendents  of  Sabbath-schools,  and  per- 
sons of  high  esteem  in  Christian  communities  !  These  are 
only  examples  of  a  numerous  class  represented  by  these 
Balaamites  and  Nicolaitans  in  the  church  of  Pergamus  ;  for 
such  are  all  church  members  who  have  'hearts  exercised 
with  covetous  practices,'  How  many  there  may  be  whose 
offences  have  not  yet  come  to  light  is  known  only  to  God  ; 
but  enough  surely  has  been  made  public  to  convict  the 
church  at  large  of  the  grossest  neglect  of  discipline,  and  to 
open  her  ears  to  this  call  of  her  Lord  to  repentance  and  ref- 
ormation. 

2.  A  great  many  influences  have  contributed  to  bring  about 
this  state  of  things.  One  is  our  rabid  denominationalism, 
or  sectarianism,  in  consequence  of  which,  censure  in  one 
church  has  no  recognized  validity  in  another  of  a  different 
sect ;  and  in  their  competition  with  each  other,  especiall}''  in 
small  communities,  all  are  so  anxious  to  secure  members 
who  may  increase  their  pecuniary  support.  Another  is  the 
fear  of  alienating  influential  families  ;  for  censure  of  an  un- 
worthy member  is  almost  sure  to  be  resented  by  his  whole 
family,  and  often  by  a  large  circle  of  friends  and  connections. 
Still  another  is  the  prevalent  misunderstanding,  which  has 
just  been  alluded  to,  of  our  Lord's  parable  of  the  Wheat  and 
the  Tares  (Mat.  iii.  29).  But  more  influential  probably  than 
all  these,  is  that  bondage  to  the  world  in  which  we  now  live, 
and  which  will  be  largely  represented  in  subsequent  visions. 
For  this  is  such  that  we  have  no  public  opinion  in  the  church 
independent  of,  or  different  from,  that  of  the  world,  in  dress, 
amusements,  employments,  expenditure,  and  hardly  in  mo- 


THE  CHURCH  IN  NEGLECT  OF  DISCIPLINE 


69 


rality.  Under  all  these  and  other  influences,  church  disci- 
pline has  come  to  be  little  more  than  a  name,  or  the  memory 
of  something  which  has  long  been  obsolete. 

3.  Hence  this  call  to  repentance  and  reformation  is  ad- 
dressed to  us,  no  less  than  it  was  to  the  church  in  Pergamus  : 
and  it  is  a  most  urgent  call;  for  we  see  here  that  this  neglect 
of  discipline  is  a  sin  and  an  evil  of  such  magnitude  in  the  eyes 
of  our  Lord  that  He  sent  this  Epistle  chiefly  for  the  purpose 
of  correcting  it.  This  was  the  one  sin  of  that  church  ;  no 
other  is  charged  against  her.  As  churches,  therefore,  and  as 
individuals,  we  are  here  admonished  to  repent  of  our  sin, 
and  to  return  to  our  plain  duty  in  this  matter.  For  it  is  not 
one  that  concerns  the  pastor  and  governing  officials  alone, 
but  every  individual  member  ;  and  where  the  officers  are 
derelict,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  members  to  turn  them  out,  and 
put  others  in  their  places  who  will  be  more  faithful.  We 
cannot  neglect  this  matter  with  impunity  ;  for  if  we  do,  the 
Lord  will  come  to  us  quickly,  and  execute  His  just  judgment 
upon  our  unv/orthy  members  : 

"  But  who  may  abide  the  day  of  His  coming  ? 
And  who  shall  stand  when  He  appeareth  "> 
For  He  is  like  a  refiner's  fire,  and  like  fuller's  soap ; 
And  He  will  sit  as  a  refiner  and  purifier  of  silver, 

And  He  will  purify  the  sons  of  Levi,  and  purge  them  as  gold  and  silver ; 
And  they  shall  offer  unto  the  Lord  offerings  in  righteousness  "  (Mai.  iii.  2-3). 

For  discipline  is  an  ordinance  of  God,  not  only  for  the  main- 
tenance of  purity  in  the  church,  but  also  for  the  purifying  of 
the  subjects  of  it,  to  save  them  from  the  sharp  judgments  of 
the  sword  in  the  Lord's  mouth.  If,  therefore,  she  neglects 
to  guard  her  own  purity  by  this  holy  ordinance.  He  will 
guard  it  for  her  by  punishing  her  unworthy  members.  A 
mournful  case  of  this  kind  lately  fell  under  my  own  observa- 
tion, in  which  a  church  member  was  long  tolerated  in  gross 
and  well-known  immoralities,  from  kindly  regard  to  his  ami- 
able and  interesting  family,  until  he  was  left  to  lay  violent 
hands  on  himself,  and  so  perished  in  his  sins.  Thus  it  is 
that  the  Lord  makes  war  upon  the  Balaamites  and  Nicolai- 
tans  in  the  bosom  of  His  church.     Such  neglect  of  whole- 


70 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


some  discipline,  therefore,  is  cruel  ;  for  who  can  tell  but 
that  if  this  man  had  been  subjected  to  it  in  time,  he  would 
have  been  saved  ?  "  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what 
the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches." 

4.  There  may  be  church  members,  also,  who  have  'hearts 
exercised  with  covetous  practices,'  or  who  are  living  in  other 
immoralities,  but  whose  offences  have  not  yet  come  to  light, 
so  that  they  cannot  be  disciplined:  and,  for  aught  we  can  tell, 
thev  may  stand  high  in  the  esteem  of  their  communities  ; 
for  Balaam  had  the  reputation  of  a  great  prophet,  and  there 
was  a  Judas  Iscariot  in  the  college  of  the  apostles.  Let  all 
such  be  assured  in  their  secret  souls,  that  nothing  but  repent- 
ance and  reformation  can  save  them  from  the  fate  of  these 
Balaamites  and  Nicolaitans  in  the  church  of  Pergamus. 
Failing  that,  the  Lord  is  certain  to  come  quickly,  and  to 
make  war  upon  them  with  the  sharp  sword  of  His  mouth, 
for  He  will  execute  the  judgments  of  His  word  against  all 
Judases.  And  He  will  come  in  an  hour  when  they  look  not 
for  Him,  and  will  cut  them  off  suddenly  without  remedy, 
perhaps  as  in  the  case  of  that  church  member  whose  sad  fate 
has  just  been  mentioned.  They  have  no  time  to  lose  ;  the 
present  is  all  that  they  can  count  upon.  To-day,  therefore, 
whilst  they  hear  His  voice  calling  them  to  repentance,  and 
while  He  waits  to  be  gracious,  let  them  not  harden  their 
hearts,  as  in  the  day  of  provocation,  lest  He  lift  His  hand 
and  swear  that  they  shall  not  enter  into  His  rest  (Heb. 
iii.  7-1 1). 


VIII 

EPISTLE    TO    THE    CHURCH    IN    THYATIRA      THE    CHURCH 
INFECTED   WITH   IDOLATRY   AND   IMPURITY      II    1 8-29 

The  spiritual  state  of  this  church  is  similar  to  that  of  the 
last,  only  much  worse  ;  for  she  is  so  generally  infected  with 
idolatry  and  immorality,  and  with  a  doctrine  in  their  justifi- 
cation, that  only  a  remnant  of  her  members  remain  un- 
corrupted,  and  she  herself  is  not  even  admonished  to 
repentance. 

18  And  unto  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Thyatira  write :  These 
things  saith  the  Son  of  God,  who  hath  His  eyes  as  a  flame  of  fire,  and 
His  feet  are  like  burnished  brass. 

In  these  Epistles,  St.  John  commences,  as  we  have  seen, 
with  Ephesus,  a  great  seaport,  and  proceeds  northwards 
along  the  coast  of  Asia  Minor  to  Smyrna,  and  next  to  Per- 
gamus,  where  he  now  turns  eastward  and  inland  to  Thyatira, 
which  was  situated  about  20  miles  from  Pergamus,  on  the 
great  Roman  highway  to  Sardis,  where  we  shall  find  the 
church  of  the  next  Epistle.  For  the  Romans  were  the 
greatest  road-builders  of  the  ancient  world,  which  greatly 
facilitated  the  early  and  rapid  progress  of  the  Christian 
religion.  Thyatira  was  founded  by  Seleucus  Nicator,  still 
another  of  the  generals  and  successors  of  Alexander,  whose 
vast  empire,  of  which  the  whole  of  this  immensely  populous 
country  constituted  but  a  single  province,  was  partitioned  at 
his  death  among  his  principal  officers.  At  this  time,  it  was 
included  in  the  Proconsular  province  of  the  hardly  less 
extensive  empire  of  Rome.  Originally  it  was  a  Macedonian 
colony,  celebrated  for  various  forms  of  industry,  especially 
for  the  art  of  dyeing  in  purple  ;  and  among  its  ruins  a  Greek 

(71) 


^2  IVISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

inscription  has  been  discovered,  which  was  set  up  by  the 
trade  or  guild  of  dyers  in  honor  of  one  of  the  Roman 
emperors.  Hence  we  find  that  Lydia,  a  woman  who  was  con- 
verted at  Philippi  by  the  ministry  of  St.  Paul,  was  '  a  seller 
of  purple  from  Thyatira  '  (Acts  xvi.  14).  That  ancient  art  is 
Gtill  practiced  there,  and  large  quantities  of  scarlet  cloth  are 
S2Tit  to  Smyrna,  whence  it  is  exported  and  widely  dis- 
tributed. The  city  contains  at  the  present  time  some  10,000 
inhabitants,  of  whom  about  3,000  are  nominal  Christians. 
We  do  not  certainly  know  by  whom  this  church  was 
founded  ;  but,  in  all  probability,  it  originated  from  the 
conversion  of  Lydia,  when  she  returned  to  her  native  place. 
When  it  was  addressed  in  this  Epistle,  it  had  evidently 
grown  to  be  a  great  and  powerful  community,  though  fear- 
fully corrupted  by  idolatry  and  heathen  impurities. 

The  Lord  here  calls  Himself  '  the  Son  of  God,'  an  expres- 
sion which  does  not  occur  elsewhere  in  the  book,  though  it 
is  probably  the  '  name  written  which  no  man  knoweth  but 
Himself'  (Rev.  xix.  12).  Its  meaning  was  largely  discussed 
at  the  council  of  Nicaea  in  the  fourth  century,  but  it  was  not 
settled  then  in  strict  accordance  with  what  is  now  called  the 
orthodox  doctrine  on  the  subject,  which  is  as  follows  :  Christ 
is  possessed  of  both  a  divine  and  a  human  nature.  His 
divine  nature  is  composed  of  two  elements,  substance  and 
personality.  The  substance  of  this  nature,  in  which  inhere 
all  the  divine  attributes,  is  unbegotten,  underived,  and 
numerically  one  with  the  substance  of  the  Father,  so  that 
there  is  but  one  God.  But  as  to  His  personality,  or  mode 
of  subsistence.  He  is  eternally  begotten  of  the  Father,  as 
the  eternal  Son  of  God,  the  second  Person  of  the  ever 
blessed  and  adorable  Trinity.  As  to  His  human  nature, 
which  he  took  into  personal  union  with  Himself  in  His  in- 
carnation, He  is  both  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Son  of  Man, 
since  that  nature  was  begotten  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  the 
blessed  virgin  Mary  and  was  born  of  her.  This  profound 
conception  of  the  sonship  and  personality  of  the  Lord  is  the 
only  one,  as  it  seems  to  me,  that  agrees  with  all  the  Scriptural 
teachings  on  the  subject  ;  and,  for  those  who  receive  it,  these 


THE  CHURCH  IX  IDOLATRY  AND  IMPURITY 


n 


mvstcrious  doctrines  have  not  even  an  appearance  of  self- 
contradiction.  His  '  eyes  as  of  flame  and  His  feet  like  bur- 
nished brass'  are  taken  from  the  opening  vision  (35);  and  in 
all  these  particulars  He  speaks  of  Himself  in  accordance  with 
that  which  is  to  follow  in  the  Epistle. 

19  I  know  thy  works  and  thy  love  and  thy  faith  and  thy  service 
and  thy  patience,  and  thy  last  works  to  be  more  than  the  first. 

These  six  distinguished  graces  seem  to  leave  nothing  to 
desire,  especially  the  last,  that  the  church  has  continued  to 
make  progress  ;  which  is  in  strong  contrast  with  the  loss  of 
her  first  love  by  the  Ephesian  church  (47).  Indeed,  it  is  most 
wonderful  that  so  much  of  Christian  grace  should  be  found 
associated  with  the  doctrinal  and  moral  corruptions  for 
which  the  Lord  now  proceeds  to  rebuke  her.  The  best 
solution  of  this  difficulty  seems  to  be  that,  in  these  commen- 
dations. He  has  in  view  '  the  remnant  '  who  have  kept  them- 
selves pure,  rather  than  the  church  at  large. 

20  ^ut  I  have  against  thee,  that  thou  sufferest  the  woman  Jezebel, 
who  calleth  herself  a  prophetess,  and  teacheth,  and  seduceth  my 
servants  to  commit  fornication   and  to  eat  things  sacrificed  to  idols. 

Here  again  '  a  few  things  '  (47),  in  the  English  Bible  are  not 
genuine  ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  observation,  that  our  oldest  and 
best  manuscript,  the  Sinaitic,  reads  here, '  I  have  much  against 
thee,'  which  certainly  expresses  the  true  sense,  and  possibly 
is  the  true  text.  But  in  order  to  understand  this  rebuke, 
we  must  remember  how  covetousness  and  licentiousness 
have  been  symbolized  under  the  character  of  Balaam  (64); 
for,  in  a  precisely  similar  manner,  the  idolatry  and  impurity 
with  which  this  church  is  so  deeply  infected  are  here  symbol- 
ized under  the  character  of  Jezebel.  This  notorious  woman 
was  a  heathen  princess,  the  daughter  of  a  king  of  Tyre  and 
Sidon  (i  Ki.  xvi.  31),  and  became  the  queen  of  Ahab,  king 
of  Israel.  She  was  possessed  of  great  natural  abilities,  which 
she  strenuously  exerted  to  overthrow  the  worship  of  God, 
and  to  establish  in  its  place  the  idolatry  of  Baal  and  Astarte, 
the  so-called  king  and  queen  of  heaven.  In  thus  asserting 
4 


74 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


for  herself  control  over  religion,  she  claimed,  as  it  were,  to 
be  '  a  prophetess.'  The  measures  she  took  to  accomplish  her 
objects  were  of  a  grossly  immoral  character  ;  for  she  put 
to  death  all  the  prof  hets  of  the  Lord  upon  whom  she  could 
lay  her  hands,  until  Elijah  complained  that  he  alone  was  left 
alive  (i  Ki.  xix.  19).  Thus  she  succeeded  in  making  her 
idolatry  almost  universal  among  the  covenant  people  ;  only 
'  a  remnant '  of  true  worshippers  was  left.  Her  husband  was 
like  wax  in  her  hands,  and  under  her  influence  he  became 
worse  than  any  of  the  kings  who  preceded  him  :  "  Ahab  did 
more  to  provoke  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  to  anger  than  all  the 
kings  of  Israel  that  were  before  him.  ...  It  was  as  if  it  had 
been  a  light  thing  for  him  to  walk  in  the  sins  of  Jeroboam  the 
son  of  Nebat"  (i  Ki.  xvi.  31-33). 

Such  was  the  character  which  is  here  taken  to  represent 
those  in  the  church  of  Thyatira  who  practiced  idolatry  and 
impurity.  Hence  there  is  little  probability  in  the  supposi- 
tion that  this  Jezebel  was  a  real  woman,  and  even,  as  some 
think,  the  wife  of  the  pastor  of  the  church;  although  her 
introduction  in  the  symbol  may  contain  an  allusion  to  the 
fact,  that  there  actually  was  in  Thyatira  an  oriental  super- 
stition in  which  a  woman  did  claim  to  be  a  prophetess.  For 
it  seems  quite  plain  that  Jezebel  here,  like  Balaam  in  the  last 
Epistle  (65),  is  to  be  understood  symbolically,  to  denote  a 
form  of  idolatry  and  immorality  whose  followers  claimed  to 
be  inspired,  and  so  authorized  to  set  aside  or  change  the 
laws  laid  down  in  the  Scriptures  concerning  the  worship  of 
God  and  the  relations  between  the  sexes.  Probably  their 
*  doctrine '  was  like  that  of  some  modern  communists,  for 
we  know  from  other  sources  that  there  were  such  heretical 
sects  in  the  primitive  church.  Such  views  were  held  also 
by  certain  sectaries  at  the  Reformation;  and  I  am  personally 
cognizant  of  a  case  in  which  a  number  of  persons  of  both 
sexes,  claiming  a  later  inspiration  than  that  of  the  Bible,  met 
together  professedly  for  the  worship  of  God,  and  performed 
their  obscene  rites  in  puris  naturalibus,  without  even  a  fig- 
leaf.  There  is  little  doubt  but  that  something  of  the  same 
sort  is  represented  by  this  woman  Jezebel.     For  the  connec- 


THE  CHURCH  IxV  ID  OLA  TR  Y  AND  IMF  URITY  7  5 

tion  between  'eating  things  sacrificed  to  idols'  with  sexual 
impurity  was  such  that  the  two  could  hardly  be  separated, 
because  the  feasts  at  which  these  things  were  eaten  were 
commonly  celebrated  with  licentious  orgies,  as  in  the  wor- 
ship of  Baal  and  Astarte,  of  which  the  historic  Jezebel  was 
such  an  enthusiastic  patroness  (73).  Consequently  Christian 
people  could  not  attend  them  without  giving  their  sanction 
to  these  impurities,  nor  without  becoming  themselves  cor- 
rupted, although  they  might  not  be  guilty  of  the  worst 
offences.  It  was  for  this  reason,  no  doubt,  that  in  the  first 
general  council  of  the  church,  held  at  Jerusalem,  where  the 
apostles  were  present,  the  eating  of  things  sacrificed  to  idols 
was  prohibited  (Acts  xv.  20):  and  hence  that  prohibition  is 
not  to  be  received  as  of  moral  or  permanent,  though  of  posi- 
tive and  temporary  obligation,  as  having  arisen  out  of  the 
peculiar  circumstances  of  the  times. 

21  And  I  gave  her  time  that  she  should  repent,  and  she  willeth 
not  to  repent  of  her  fornication. 

Hence  it  appears  that  this  was  no  new  evil  in  the  church; 
time  had  already  been  given  for  the  guilty  to  repent;  but 
they  had  no  will  or  desire  to  repent;  they  persisted  in  their 
idolatries  and  impurities,  thus  'treasuring  up  unto  them- 
selves wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath  and  revelation  of  the 
just  judgment  of  God '  (Rom.  ii.  5). 

22  Behold,  I  do  cast  her  into  a  bed,  and  them  that  commit  adultery 
with  her  into  great  tribulation,  unless  they  shall  repent  of  her  works  : 
23  and  I  will  slay  her  children  with  death. 

There  is  a  Hebrew  parallelism  here,  according  to  which 
the  meaning  is,  that  these  idolatrous  and  impure  members  of 
the  church  should  be  cast  into  a  bed  of  great  tribulation; 
this  bed  being  contrasted  with  the  bed  of  adultery,  as  else- 
where the  cup  of  wrath  is  contrasted  with  the  cup  of  intoxi- 
cation. The  followers  of  this  impure  delusion  are  further 
characterized  as  Jezebel's  children,  who  also  commit  adultery 
with  her,  which  seems  to  imply  that  they  did  not  withhold 
themselves  from  the  worst  extremes  of  impurity.  For  their 
punishment,   'unless  they  shall  repent  of  her  works,'  they 


76  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

shall  be  slain  with  'death'  (Rev.  vi.  7-8),  which,  for  reasons 
that  will  appear  at  the  opening  of  the  fourth  seal,  is  doubt- 
less to  be  taken  here  in  the  sense  of  pestilence,  so  that  this 
tautology  is  only  apparent.  It  is  well  known  that  sinners  of 
this  character  are  commonly  visited  with  grievous  punish- 
ments in  this  world;  for  there  is  a  physical  disease  which,  at 
least  in  modern  times,  follows  sexual  impurity,  one  of  the 
most  terrible  that  flesh  is  heir  to;  and  it  is  hard  to  believe, 
as  some  do,  that  it  was  anciently  unknown.  At  all  events, 
this  prophetic  threatening,  as  it  was  intended  for  all  sub- 
sequent ages  (31),  is  abundantly  fulfilled  in  (?ur  time. 

23  And  all  the  churches  shall  kno-w  that  I  am  He  that  searcheth  the 
reins  and  hearts  :  and  I  will  give  unto  you,  each  one,  according  to  your 
works. 

The  punishment  of  this  church  should  be  so  signal  that  all 
the  others  should  be  made  to  know  that  she  was  visited  by 
the  judgments  of  the  great  searcher  of  hearts  and  reins, 
whose  'eyes  were  as  a  flame  of  fire,'  from  whom  no  secrets 
could  be  hid.  For  these  licentious  feasts  were  held  mostly  at 
night,  and,  no  doubt,  the  members  of  Christian  churches 
who  attended  them  sought,  from  instinctive  shame,  to  avoid 
publicity  as  much  as  possible.  But  the  punishment  to  be 
inflicted  upon  them  should  be  public,  in  the  sight  of  all  the 
churches  ;  and  should  be  such  as  to  impress  them  with  the 
conviction,  that  the  flaming  eyes  of  their  Lord  were  in  every 
place,  and  that  the  night  was  to  Him  as  the  day  : 

Even  tlie  darkness  darkeneth  not  to  thee, 

But  the  night  shineth  as  the  day  ; 

The  darkness  and  the  light  are  both  alike  to  thee  (Ps.  cxxxix.  12). 

And  all  the  members  of  the  church,  whether  guilty  of  these 
impurities,  or  not,  should  receive  according  to  their  works. 
For  the  judgment  of  the  Lord  must  be  revealed  and  take 
effect  in  every  human  soul  ;  no  forgiveness  of  sins,  nor  justi- 
fication by  faith,  nor  imputed  righteousness,  can  avail  so  that 
'the  old  man  '  shall  not  be  judged,  condemned,  and  put  to 
death.  Even  the  saints  must  be  *  crucified  with  Christ,  bap- 
tized   into    His    death,    buried    with    Him    by  baptism  into 


THE  CHURCH  IN  IDOLA  TR  Y  AND  IMPURITY  yj 

death'  (Rom.  vi.   i-n),  in    order   to    be    partakers  of   His 
life. 

24  But  unto  you  I  say,  the  remnant  who  are  in  Thyatira,  as  many  as 
have  not  known  this  teaching,  such  as  have  not  known  the  deep  things 
of  Satan,  as  they  speak,  I  do  cast  upon  you  no  other  burden :  25  only 
that  which  ye  have  hold  fast  till  I  come. 

The  address  is  no  longer  to  the  church,  but  turns  now  to 
the  remnant  of  her  members  who  have  escaped  the  general 
corruption,  who  have  not  known  'this  doctrine,  these  deep 
things  of  Satan,  as  they  speak,'  The  meaning  of  these 
strange  expressions  turns  upon  the  fact,  that  these  abomin- 
able idolatries  and  impurities  were  formulated  in  *  a  doc- 
trine,' a  system  of  teaching,  the  followers  of  which  claimed 
that  none  but  themselves  understood  the  deep  things  of  God. 
They  taught  that  these  impurities  especially  belonged  to 
the  worship  of  the  true  God,  as  they  always  had  to  that  of  the 
false  gods  of  the  heathen  ;  and  this,  on  a  variety  of  grounds, 
which  I  have  not  time,  nor  would  it  be  of  any  profit,  to 
explain.  Such  doctrines  and  practices,  moreover,  they  blas- 
phemously called  '  the  deep  things  of  God.'  But  the  Lord 
here  in  solemn  mockery  calls  them  '  the  deep  things  of  Satan,' 
which  the  pure  members  of  the  church  have  not  known,  and 
should  have  no  desire  to  know.  For  there  are  depths  of 
sexual  impurity  which  no  decent  person  can  understand;  to 
know  which  is  to  be  defiled;  which  can  be  understood  by 
none  but  the  initiated.  But  there  is  a  remnant  in  this 
infected  church  who  have  kept  themselves  pure,  and  upon 
them  their  Lord  lays  no  other  burden  than  that  which  they 
already  have  in  resisting  the  influences  by  which  they  are 
surrounded  :  only  let  them  hold  fast  the  virtue  to  which  they 
have  attained  till  He  shall  come  to  their  deliverance  by  exe- 
cuting His  judgment  upon  Jezebel  and  her  children,  by 
which  their  faith  and  piety  cannot  fail  to  be  greatly  con- 
firmed. For  when  the  righteous  see  the  ungodly  suddenly 
cut  off  in  their  sins,  and  the  justice  of  God  thus  signally  mani- 
fested, they  have  powerfully  impressed  upon  their  minds  the 
eternal  truth,  that  men  cannot  live  in  sin  with  impunity,  and 
are  thereby  mightily  strengthened  against  their  own  tempta- 


78 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YFSE 


tions.  In  this  way,  for  aught  that  we  can  know,  a  hell  for  the 
wicked  may  be  absolutely  essential  to  the  salvation  of  the 
righteous.  Finally,  this  coming  of  the  Lord  is  another  illus- 
tration of  the  theme  of  the  book. 

26  And  he  that  overcometh,  and  keepeth  my  works  to  the  end, 
unto  him  will  I  give  authority  over  the  nations  ;  27  and  he  shall  shep- 
herd them  with  an  iron  rod,  as  the  vessels  of  the  potter  are  broken  to 
shivers,  as  I  also  have  received  of  my  Father :  28  and  I  will  give  unto 
him  the  morning  star. 

In  these  rewards  of  victory,  there  is  a  pointed  allusion  to 
many  passages  in  the  prophets  which  represent  the  nations 
as  in  rebellion  against  God  and  His  Messiah  King,  until 
their  rebellion  is  put  down  by  His  victorious  power.  The 
following  is  a  single  example  : 

Why  do  the  nations  rage, 

And  the  peoples  imag;ine  a  vain  thing  ?  . 

The  kings  of  the  earth  set  themselves, 

And  the  rulers  take  counsel  together, 

Against  the  Lord  and  against  His  Anointed  : 

Let  us  break  their  bands  asunder. 

And  cast  away  their  cords  from  us. 

He  that  sitteth  in  the  heavens  will  laugh  ; 

The  Lord  will  have  them  in  derision. 

Then  will  He  speak  unto  them  in  His  wrath. 

And  trouble  them  in  His  sore  displeasure  : 

Yet  have  I  set  my  King  upon  my  holy  hill  of  Zion. 

I  will  declare  the  decree  :  the  Lord  hath  said  unto  me. 

Thou  art  my  Son, 

This  day  have  I  begotten  thee. 

Ask  of  me,  and  I  wiO  give  thee  the  nations  for  thine  inheritance. 

And  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  possession. 

Thou  shalt  shepherd  them  with  a  rod  of  iron  ; 

Thou  shalt  dash  them  in  pieces  like  a  potter's  vessel  (Ps.  ii.  1-9) . 

The  Hebrew  word  here  rendered  to  *  shepherd '  has  no 
authorized  equivalent  in  our  language,  but  its  meaning  is,  to 
exercise  the  shepherd's  functions  :  and  so  taken  it  contains 
a  figure  of  speech  which  has  the  energy  of  contrast  and  sur- 
prise ;  for  it  expresses  the  idea  that  the  Lord  will  shepherd 
the  nations,  not,  as  we  should  have  anticipated,  with  the 
peaceful  crook,  but  with  an  iron  rod,  with  which  He  will 
dash  them  to  shivers  as  a  potter's  vessel.     And  this  terrible 


THE  CHURCH  IN  IDOL  A  TR  Y  AND  IMPURITY  -jg 

prophecy  must  needs  be  fulfilled  by  reason  of  the  obdurate 
resistance  of  the  nations  to  His  authority,  as  '  the  King  of 
kino-s  and  Lord  of  lords'  (15).  Here,  then,  the  assurance  is 
given  to  '  them  that  overcome,  and  keep  their  Lord's  works 
to  the  end,'  that  they  shall  be  partakers  with  Him  in  this 
victorious  warfare  to  subdue  the  nations,  and  in  His  authority 
over  them  which  He  receives  from  His  Father.  Hereafter 
we  shall  see  those  to  whom  this  promise  is  made  in  His  con- 
quering army  (Rev.  xix.  14).  This  'morning  star,'  which 
also  shall  be  given  them,  is  explained  by  the  words  of  the 
Lord  at  the  close  of  the  book  :  "  I  am  the  root  and  offspring 
of  David,  the  bright,  the  morning  star"  (Rev.  xxii.  16)  ;  in 
allusion  to  '  the  star  that  should  come  forth  out  of  Jacob ' 
(Num.  xxiv.  17).  Hence  this  gift  to  the  conquerors  in  their 
earthly  conflicts  is  that  of  the  Lord  Himself,  in  the  bright- 
ness of  His  glory  and  reign  over  the  subdued  nations,  as 
elsew^here  it  is  said  :  "  They  shall  reign  with  Him  a  thousand 
years"  (Rev.  xx.  6). 

29  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the 
churches  (49). 

The  great  practical  truth  of  this  Epistle,  which  is  of 
universal  interest,  is  the  necessity  of  the  purest  Scriptural 
morality  in  the  church.  For,  although  we  who  live  in 
Christian  countries  have  no  inducement  or  occasion  to 
attend  idolatrous  feasts,  through  the  all-transforming  in- 
fluence of  our  holy  religion  upon  society  at  large,  yet  inces- 
sant temptations  to  immorality  are  the  conditions  of  human 
life  in  all  ages  and  all  circumstances.  Neither  was  the 
formulating  of  impurity  in  a  doctrine  to  justify  it  peculiar  to 
primitive  times  ;  for  it  has  been  said  by  a  great  poet  and 
philosopher  that  '  men's  lives  are  not  so  much  the  conse- 
quences of  their  doctrines  as  their  doctrines  are  of  their 
lives.'  And  such  immoral  doctrines  are  now  taught  by  those 
scientists  who  deny  that  there  is  any  such  thing  as  an  abso- 
lute morality;  who  maintain  that  the  conscience,  which, 
when  rightly  heard,  is  the  voice  of  God  in  man,*  is  a  mere 


*See  Wisdom  0/  Holy  Scripture,  iv. 


3o  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

animal  instinct,  or  the  exercise  of  mere  prudential  wisdom. 
Nihilism  has  a  doctrine  to  justify  political  assassination, 
and  communism  has  a  doctrine  which  casts  contempt  upon 
sexual  purity,  and  maintains  that  we  have  nothing  which  we 
can  properly  call  our  own,  not  even  our  wives  or  children. 
The  doctrine  contained  in  all  these  and  similar  delusions  of 
Satan  is,  that  there  can  be  no  authority  above  men  to  pro- 
hibit them  from  doing  whatever  they  have  a  mind  to  ;  and 
this  is  one  of  their  'deep  things.'  Not  long  ago,  a  man  rose 
in  one  of  their  conventions  in  the  city  of  New  York  and 
said,  '  If  I  were  in  heaven  and  felt  disposed  to  commit  sin,  I 
would  do  it  there.'  Such  is  '  the  liberty  they  promise  to 
others,  whilst  they  themselves  are  the  slaves  of  corruption  ' 
{i  Pet.  ii.  19).  Now  the  church  of  Christ  is  the  only  power 
on  earth  that  can  make  head  against  these  immoral  doctrines 
and  practices  ;  and  in  order  to  do  this,  her  members  must 
keep  themselves  pure  ;  otherwise  the  embankment  is  broken 
down  which  God  has  raised  against  this  overflowing  scourge. 
Hence  it  is  for  all  Christians,  in  their  business,  in  their  social, 
domestic,  political,  and  church  relations,  ever  to  bear  in  mind 
and  lay  to  heart  these  words  of  the  Lord,  '  I  will  give  unto 
you,  each  one,  according  to  your  works,'  in  order  that  they 
may  keep  themselves  '  unspotted  from  the  world,'  and  may 
appear  in  the  last  day  with  that  '  holiness  without  which  no 
one  shall  see  the  Lord'  (Heb.  xii.  14). 


IX 


EPISTLE     TO     THE     CHURCH     IN     SARDIS       THE     CHURCH 
HAVING   ONLY   A   NAME   TO   LIVE      III    1-6 

This  church  seems  to  have  been  generally  regarded  as  in 
a  prosperous  condition,  but  in  the  eyes  of  her  Lord  she  has 
only  a  name  to  live,  and  is  spiritually  dead  :  yet  she  also  has 
a  remnant  who  have  kept  themselves  pure  amidst  abound- 
ing corruptions,  and,  in  contrast  with  the  church  in  Thyatira, 
she  is  earnestly  admonished  to  repentance. 

I  And  unto  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Sardis  write  :  These  things 
saith  He  that  hath  the  seven  Spirits  of  God  and  the  seven  stars  :  I 
know  thy  works,  that  thou  hast  a  name  to  live  and  art  dead. 

Sardis  was  a  very  ancient  and  renowned  city,  about 
30  miles  eastward  and  further  inland  from  Thyatira,  on 
the  head  waters  of  the  river  Hermus  where  it  is  joined 
by  the  Pactolus,  formerly  celebrated  for  its  golden  sand?. 
The  surrounding  country  was  prodigiously  fertile,  and 
would  be  still  if  it  were  properly  cultivated.  The  city 
had  been  the  capital  of  the  ancient  and  powerful  empire 
of  Lydia,  which  was  overthrown  by  the  Persians  under 
Cyrus  the  great  about  550  years  before  Christ,  when  it 
was  the  residence  of  that  famous  monarch  from  whose 
enormous  treasures  the  proverb,  'as  rich  as  Croesus,'  has 
come  down  to  us.  It  is  said  that  gold  and  silver  were  first 
minted  into  coin  at  Sardis.  It  was  conquered  from  the 
Persians  by  Alexander,  and,  at  the  time  of  these  Epistles, 
was  one  of  the  chief  cities  of  Proconsular  Asia.  At  present, 
there  are  only  a  few  straggling  huts  amidst  the  ruins  of  its 
ancient  splendor,  which  still  bear  the  name  of  Sart.  These 
ruins  are  wonderful,  and  are  regarded  by  antiquarians  as 
4*  (81) 


82  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

coeval  with  Solomon's  temple.  The  people  bore  an  ill  name 
for  luxury  and  vice.  Here,  at  any  early  day,  a  Christian 
church  had  been  established,  but  by  whose  ministry,  or  who 
was  its  pastor  at  this  time,  we  have  no  information.  About 
loo  years  afterwards,  it  had  a  very  eminent  pastor  named 
Melito,  who,  on  account  of  his  spiritual  character,  was  called 
by  his  contemporaries  'the  prophet';  who  addressed  an 
elaborate  defence  of  Christianity  to  the  reigning  pagan 
emperor,  Marcus  Aurelius  ;  and  who  was  the  author  of  a 
commentary  or  treatise  upon  the  Apocalypse,  which  un- 
fortunately has  been  lost. 

*  Having  the  seven  Spirits  of  God,'  which  the  Lord  here 
claims  for  Himself,  does  not  appear  in  the  opening  vision, 
but  in  the  greeting  to  the  churches  we  have  had  that  to 
which  it  refers  (14),  where  we  have  seen  that  these  seven 
Spirits  are  a  symbolical  expression  signifying  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  the  unity  of  His  personality  and  fulness  of  His 
manifold  operations.  His  'having  the  seven  stars,'  however, 
occurs  in  that  vision  with  a  large  significance  (41).  The 
reason  why  these  particular  traits  are  introduced  here  is,  no 
doubt,  that  this  church  is  in  an  extremely  low  spiritual  state, 
yet  not  past  all  hope  of  restoration,  which  can  come  only 
from  the  fulness  of  the  Spirit  in  her  Lord,  in  connection 
with  faithful  pastoral  labor.  This  has  been  admirably  ex- 
pressed as  follows  :  '  To  the  angel  or  pastor  of  the  church 
and  his  people,  sunken  in  spiritual  deadness  and  torpor,  the 
lamp  of  faith  waning  and  almost  extinguished  in  their  hearts, 
the  Lord  presents  Himself  as  one  having  the  fulness  of  all 
spiritual  gifts,  able,  therefore,  to  revive,  able  to  recover,  able 
to  bring  back  from  the  very  gates  of  spiritual  death,  those 
who  will  employ  the  little  last  remaining  strength  which 
they  still  retain  in  calling  even  in  extremis  upon  Him.' 

The  Lord  knows  all  the  works  of  this  church,  and  that, 
having  a  name  to  live,  she  is  spiritually  dead.  For  out- 
wardly she  seems  to  have  been  in  a  flourishing  condition. 
The  rage  of  persecution  does  not  seem  to  have  reached  her. 
There  was,  as  we  may  well  believe,  no  lack  of  union  or 
harmony  among  her  members,  and  no  special  forms  of  idol- 


l^HE  CHURCH  HA  VING  ONLY  A  NAME  TO  LIVE        83 

atry  or  immorality  that  required  the  application  of  discipline. 
She  was  not  troubled  with  heresies  or  false  doctrines.  Her 
creed  seems  to  have  been  quite  sound,  perhaps  a  model  of 
orthodoxy.  Probably  her  members  were  numerous,  and 
many  of  them  wealthy.  Hence  she  had  a  name  to  live,  a 
renown  for  spiritual  life,  was  regarded  by  her  sister  churches 
as  a  prosperous  Christian  community.  There  was  nothing 
to  trouble  her  repose  ;  but,  oh,  it  was  the  repose  of  spiritual 
death.  She  was  a  foolish  virgin,  asleep  with  no  oil  in  her 
lamp  (Mat.  xxv.  1-13);  she  was  an  unfaithful  steward,  saying 
to  herself,  'My  Lord  delayeth  His  coming'  (Luke  xii.  45- 
46);  her  heart  surcharged  with  sloth  and  luxury. 

2  Be  watchful,  and  strengthen  the  things  that  remain,  which  were 
about  to  die  ;  for  I  have  not  found  thy  works  perfect  before  my  God. 

These  first  words  are  an  imperfect  translation  of  the  orig- 
inal, which  some  render  '  Become  watchful.'  Their  full 
sense  is,  'Wake  up  and  watch':  and  being  awake  and  vigil- 
ant, she  is  first  to  strengthen  the  spiritual  graces  which  she 
still  has,  and  which,  while  she  continued  asleep,  Vv'ere  about 
to  die  ;  for  if  they  too  shall  perish,  there  will  be  no  hope, 
perhaps  no  possibility  of  her  recovery;  she  will  be  '  twice 
dead,  and  plucked  up  by  the  roots'  (Jude  12).  In  what  fol- 
lows there  is  a  figure  of  speech  which  is  just  the  opposite  of 
hyperbole,  i.  e.  a  feeble  expression  is  chosen,  one  so  mani- 
festly inadequate  to  the  sense  intended  that  it  calls  forth  a 
mental  reaction  to  supply  the  deficiency,  as  when  we  say  of 
a  grossly  immoral  person.  He  is  no  saint,  which  evokes  the 
response.  Very  far  from  it.  Thus,  '  I  have  not  found  thy 
works  perfect,'  is  evidently  intended  to  imply  that  they  are 
very  far  from  it:  and  this  implication  is  further  strengthened 
by  the  additional  words,  'before  my  God';  for  as  Nimrod  is 
said  to  have  been  *  a  mighty  hunter  before  the  Lord  '  (Gen. 
X.  9),  to  signify  his  exceeding  might,  so  here  the  meaning  is, 
that  the  works  of  the  church  are  as  far  as  possible  from 
being  perfect.  A  contrast  is  implied  also  between  the  fair- 
ness of  her  character  before  men,  in  that  she  had  a  name  to 
live,  and  her  spiritual  deadness  in  the  sight  of  God.     Hence 


84  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

she  is  so  urgently  called  to  wake  up  out  of  this  deathly 
sleep,  and  to  put  herself  on  the  watch,  i.  e.  for  her  Lord's 
coming,  and  to  strengthen  her  remaining  graces.  For  the 
sparks  of  spiritual  life  which  He  sees  in  her  ashes  will  soon 
be  extinguished,  unless  she  shall  bestir  herself  to  rekindle 
them.  Thus  also  St.  Paul  strives  to  arouse  spiritual  sleepers: 
"Awake,  thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise  from  the  dead,  and 
Christ  shall  give  thee  light  "  (Eph.  v.  14). 

3  Remember,  therefore,  how  thou  hast  received  and  heard,  and 
keep  it,  and  repent.  If,  therefore,  thou  dost  not  watch,  I  will  come  as 
a  thief,  and  thou  shalt  not  know  what  hour  I  will  come  upon  thee. 

She  is  not  left  in  any  uncertainty  as  to  what  she  must  do 
to  recover  herself  from  her  low  estate;  at  least  four  things 
are  explicitly  enjoined  upon  her:  (i)  She  is  to 'remember 
how  she  has  received  and  heard,'  which  is  equivalent  to  re- 
ceived by  hearing,  as  in  the  words,  *  Faith  cometh  by  hear- 
ing' (Rom.  X.  17);  in  other  words,  she  must  recall  to  mind 
what  faith  and  other  spiritual  blessings  she  formerly  received 
by  hearing  the  word  read  and  the  gospel  preached,  in  order 
that  she  may  become  sensible  of  her  loss,  and  of  her  sin  in 
falling  away.  For,  in  this  respect,  her  case  is  like  that  of  the 
Ephesian  church  (47)  whose  rebukes  and  admonitions,  there- 
fore, she  must  take  to  herself  :  (2)  She  must  '  keep,'  or  guard, 
or  carefully  watch  over,  that  which  she  has  so  received,  the 
things  which  remain  to  her,  and  which  were  ready  to  die,  as 
her  only  hope  of  restoration  to  her  former  spiritual  life  and 
prosperity:  (3)  She  must  repent  of  her  sin  in  falling  away; 
not  regarding  it  as  a  calamity  for  which  she  is  not  responsi- 
ble, but  as  a  grievous  sin,  for  which  there  can  be  no  excuse, 
nor  palliation,  and  no  forgiveness  without  sincere  and  deep 
repentance:  (4)  She  must  put  herself  on  the  watch  for  her 
Lord's  coming;  otherwise  He  will  surely  come  upon  her  as 
a  thief  in  the  night,  and  she  shall  not  know  the  hour  of  His 
coming;  in  which  there  is  a  plain  allusion  to  the  parable  in 
which  the  words  occur:  "But  this  know  ye,  that  if  the  mas- 
ter of  the  house  had  known  in  what  watch  the  thief  was 
coming,  he  would  have  watched,  and  would  not  have  suffered 


THE  CHURCH  HA  VING  ONLY  A  NAME   TO  LIVE        85 

his  house  to  be  broken  through.  Therefore,  be  ye  also  ready, 
for  in  an  hour  that  ye  think  not  the  Son  of  Man  cometh  " 
(Mat.  xxiv.  43-51).  And  here  again  we  see  that  His  coming 
takes  place  at  many  different  times,  and  is  not  limited  to  that 
of  the  millennium;  for  He  came  to  this  church,  in  fulfilment 
of  this  threat,  long  ago  (50),  because,  as  it  seems,  she  did  not 
give  due  heed  to  His  admonitions.  With  respect  to  such 
daily  and  hourly  visitations,  moreover,  it  has  been  well  said: 
*  To  spiritual  sleepers  the  Lord  as  judge  always  comes  as  a 
thief  in  the  night;  for  they  have  lost  all  perception  by  their 
spiritual  senses  of  the  threatening  signs  of  judgment:  judg- 
ments upon  whole  congregations,  as  well  as  upon  individual 
souls.  Even  though  there  may  be  an  obscure  presentiment 
of  judgment,  yet  the  nearness  and  very  hour  of  it  takes, 
them  by  surprise.  The  hour  is  hidden  from  them  in  as, 
Strange  a  form  as  the  coming  of  the  thief  at  night.' 

4  But  thou  hast  a  few  names  in  Sardis  who  have  not  defiled  their 
garments  ;  and  they  shall  walk  with  me  in  white  [robes],  for  they  are 
w^orthy. 

The  judgments  upon  the  church  in  general,  if  she  shall  be 
found  still  asleep  at  her  Lord's  coming,  shall  not  reach  to  the 
few  names,  or  persons,  who  have  kept  themselves  pure, 
and  whom  He  will  certainly  find  watching.  Of  these  it  is 
said  that  they  'have  not  defiled  their  garments,'  i.  e.  their 
characters  ;  but  this,  of  course,  must  be  understood  compara- 
tively, in  contrast  with  the  many  who  were  all  defiled.  Gar- 
ments are  the  well-recognized  symbol  of  character,  or  the 
state  of  the  soul  with  respect  to  righteousness  or  unright- 
eousness, as  in  the  prophets  :  *'  Take  away  the  filthy  gar- 
ments from  him.  .  .  Behold,  I  have  caused  thine  iniquity  to 
pass  from  thee  (Zech.  iii.  4). 

He  hath  covered  me  with  the  garments  of  salvation, 

He  hath  covered  me  with  the  robe  of  righteousness  "  (Is.  Ixi.  10). 

And  white  is  the  color  of  purity  and  victory  (35).  Conse- 
quently, this  promise  to  the  remnant  in  Sardis,  that  they 
shall  'walk  with  their  Lord  in  white  robes,' signifies  that 
they  shall  be  with  Him  whithersoever  He  may  go,  enjoying 


86  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

His  perfect  intimacy,  as  having  obtained  the  victory  over  all 
their  temptations,  and  been  purified  from  all  the  defilements 
of  sin.  Hence  they  *  are  worthy '  of  so  great  a  reward. 
Thus  we  are  assured  that,  whatever  judgments  He  may 
inflict  upon  a  church  spiritually  dead,  He  will  always  take 
good  care  of  those  in  her  communion  who  have  not  been 
engulfed  in  the  general  corruption. 

5  He  that  overcometh,  himself  shall  be  clothed  in  white  robes  ;  and 
I  will  not  blot  his  name  out  of  the  book  of  life ;  and  I  will  confess  his 
name  before  my  Father  and  before  His  angels. 

These  white  robes,  as  we  have  just  seen,  are  the  symbol  of 
purity  and  victory.  *  The  book  of  life  '  frequently  occurs  in 
these  visions,  sometimes  in  the  other  Scriptures,  and  every- 
where it  is  spoken  of  as  containing  the  names  of  all  those 
who  shall  be  saved.  Thus  it  is  said  that  none  shall  enter 
into  the  New  Jerusalem  but 'they  who  are  written  in  the 
Lamb's  book  of  life  '  (Rev.  xxi.  27).  St.  Paul  mentions  those 
'  whose  names  are  written  in  the  book  of  life  '  (Phil.  iv.  3). 
Our  Lord  tells  His  disciples  to  '  rejoice  because  their  names 
are  written  in  heaven' (Luke  X.  20),  which  implies  the  book.  In 
the  prophets  it  is  said:  "A  book  of  remembrance  was  written 
before  Him  for  them  that  feared  the  Lord,  and  that  thought 
upon  His  name  :  and  they  shall  be  mine,  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts,  in  the  day  that  I  do  make  a  peculiar  treasure  (Mai.  iii. 
16-17).  Thy  people  shall  be  delivered,  every  one  that  shall 
be  found  written  in  the  book "  (Dan.  xii.  i).  In  fact,  it 
appears  as  early  as  the  time  of  Moses,  in  his  prayer  for  his 
people  after  they  had  sinned  in  the  matter  of  the  golden  calf: 
"  Oh,  this  people  have  sinned  a  great  sin,  and  have  made 
them  gods  of  gold  ;  yet  now  if  thou  wilt  forgive  their  sin — 
and  if  not,  blot  me,  I  pray  thee,  out  of  thy  book  which  thou 
hast  written."  From  these  and  other  allusions  to  this  book, 
we  easily  gather  that  it  is  the  symbol  of  God's  perfect  knowl- 
edge of  His  people  individually  and  by  name;  that  He  keeps 
them  ever  in  remembrance,  and  that  they  are  to  Him  a  pecu- 
liar treasure  ;  whereby  their  eternal  life  is  infallibly  secured. 
This  assurance,  moreover,  is  emphasized  with  great  energy 


THE  CHURCH  HAVING  ONLY  A  NAME  TO  LIVE        8/ 

by  the  figure  of  speech  that  is  employed  in  the  words,  '  I  will 
not  blot  his  name  out  of  the  book  of  life,'  which  is  the  same 
that  has  just  been  noticed  (83),  where  a  feeble  expression 
suggests  a  strong  one  ;  for,  interpreted  by  this  figure,  these 
words  are  as  if  it  were  said.  His  name  is  written  in  the  book 
of  life,  and  there  assuredly  it  shall  stand  forever.  In  what 
follows  concerning  the  confession  of  His  name,  there  is  a 
direct  reference  to  the  Lord'h  declaration  :  "  Every  one  who- 
soever, therefore,  that  shall  confess  me  before  men,  him  will 
I  also  confess  before  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven,  .  .  before 
the  angels  of  God.  But  whosoever  shall  deny  me  before  men, 
him  will  I  also  deny  before  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven  (Mat. 
X.  32),  .  .  before  the  angels  of  God"  (Luke  xii.  8).  For  the 
public  confession  of  Christ  is  of  such  importance,  especially 
in  times  of  persecution,  that  it  has  the  effect  of  a  sealing 
ordinance,  whereby  the  assurance  of  salvation  is  imparted  to 
the  faithful  confessor.  Hence  it  was  so  precious  to  the  mar- 
tyrs that,  sooner  than  withhold  it,  they  joyfully  laid  down 
their  lives  (55). 

6  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the 
churches  (49). 

I.  How  far  this  church,  having  a  name  to  live  and  being 
spiritually  dead,  is  to  be  regarded  as  representative,  or 
how  much  of  what  is  said  concerning  her  is  generally  appli- 
cable, we  may  not  be  able  to  determine.  But,  for  some 
years  past,  the  additions  to  the  full  communion  of  the 
church  have  not  averaged  more  than  five  or  six  annually  in 
the  particular  churches,  and  these  have  come  almost  exclu- 
sively from  Christian  families.  This  surely  does  not  look 
like  a  flourishing  or  fruitful  spiritual  life.  In  fact,  our  nor- 
mal condition  seems  to  be  that  in  which  we  regard  ourselves 
as  having  declined  from  a  higher  degree  of  spiritual  pros- 
perity, for  the  constant  burden  of  our  prayers  is  for  revivals. 
It  seems  plain,  also,  that  such  declensions,  expressly  charged 
upon  two  of  these  representative  churches,  those  of  Ephesus 
and  Sardis,  and  necessarily  implied  in  all  the  others  except 
two,  those  of  Smyrna  and  Philadelphia,  must  be  understood 


33  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

to  signify  that  they  would  prevail  during  a  great  part  of  the 
dispensation. 

2.  Here,  then,  if  we  find  ourselves,  whether  as  churches  or 
individuals,  in  a  state  of  declension,  we  have  precious  in- 
structions what  we  must  do  to  recover  ourselves.  We  must 
wake  up  from  our  sleep  of  spiritual  death,  and  put  ourselves 
on  the  watch  for  our  Lord's  coming  with  great  judgments 
upon  spiritual  sleepers,  and  with  great  manifestations  of 
His  grace  and  glory  to  all  '  those  who  love  His  appearing  ' 
(2  Tim.  iv.  8).  We  must  recall  to  remembrance  as  vividly 
as  we  can  what  our  state  was  '  when  the  lamp  of  God  shined 
upon  our  heads'  (Job  xxix.  3);  when  we  rejoiced  in  His 
presence  as  realized  by  faith  ;  when  converts  flocked  into 
the  church  *as  doves  to  their  windows '  (Is.  Ix.  8),  numerous 
and  bright  as  the  drops  of  '  the  morning  dew'  (Ps.  ex.  3) ; 
for  such  memories  are  wholesome  and  profitable  in  many 
ways.  We  must  strengthen  the  things  that  remain,  and  were 
about  to  die;  rekindle  the  sparks  that  may  still  be  discovered 
in  the  ashes  of  our  spiritual  life.  But  none  of  these  things 
will  or  can  be  of  any  avail,  nor,  indeed,  are  any  of  them  possi- 
ble, without  sincere  repentance,  deep  humiliation  before  God, 
for  our  inexcusable  sin  in  allowing  ourselves  to  fall  into 
such  declension.  All  this  implies,  of  course,  that  we  strength- 
en ourselves  in  prayer,  in  the  reading  and  hearing  of  the  word, 
in  the  meetings  for  prayer  and  Christian  communion,  and 
in  all  the  activities  of  Christian  life. 

3.  But  what  is  of  greatest  importance  for  us  to  lay  to  heart 
is,  that  we  must  do  all  these  things  for  ourselves,  not,  indeed, 
without  help  from  God.  but  with  such  help  as  we  now  pos- 
sess. We  are  not  to  sit  still  and  wait  for  a  revival  of  religion, 
nor  for  any  future  outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  nor  for  any  divine 
influence  which  we  have  not  already  received.  For  there  is 
not  a  word  here  about  anything  but  what  we  must  do  for 
ourselves  ;  and  all  such  waiting  arises  from  a  potent  and 
prevalent  delusion  which  lays  the  blame  of  our  low  estate 
upon  God,  instead  of  upon  ourselves,  as  if  we  earnestly  desired 
Him  to  pour  out  His  Spirit  upon  us  and  revive  us,  but  could 
not  get  Him  to  do  it:  whereas  the  truth  is,  that  His  Spirit  was, 


THE  CHURCH  HA  VING  ONL  V  A  NAME  TO  LIVE        gg 

once  for  all,  copiously  poured  out  upon  the  church,  and  'upon 
all  flesh'  (Acts  ii.  17),  in  the  great  Pentecostal  affusion,  and  not 
one  drop  of  that  outpouring  has  ever  been  withdrawn.  Ever 
since  that  day,  it  is  as  true  as  it  was  then,  that  *  the  manifes- 
tation of  the  Spirit  is  given  to  every  man  to  profit  withal ' 
(i  Cor.  xii.  7).  Hence  there  is  not  an  allusion  in  the  whole 
Bible  to  any  subsequent  outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  nor  an  inti- 
mation that  the  apostles,  or  Christians  of  those  times,  ever 
prayed  for  any  such  thing.  They  evidently  believed  that, 
once  for  all  time,  the  Spirit  had  been  poured  out  upon  the 
church  and,  in  a  certain  sense,  upon  the  world,  with  all  ful- 
ness of  power  and  blessing,  so  that  all  they  had  to  do  was 
to  count  upon  it  by  faith,  and  go  forth  to  cotiquer  the  world. 
Therein  precisely  lay  the  secret  of  their  enormous  spiritual 
power  and  success  (34)  :  that  faith  was  Samson's  hair  to 
them  ;  whilst  we,  without  it,  and  all  the  time  striving  to  get 
God  to  do  what  He  has  already  done,  are  as  the  Danite  of 
old  shorn  of  his  hair. 

3.  Moreover,  it  is  '  He  who  hath  the  seven  spirits  of  God,* 
and  who  *  walketh  in  the  midst  of  the  churches'  (81),  who 
here  calls  us  to  repentance,  and  to  the  doing  for  ourselves  of 
whatever  is  necessary  for  the  revival  and  restoration  of  our 
spiritual  life  ;  so  that  this  call  itself  is  an  ample  guarantee  of 
all  the  help  from  Him  that  we  can  possibly  need  ;  lor  He 
does  not  command  us  to  make  brick  without  stubble  or 
straw.  Thus  agaiii  we  are  divinely  admonished  not  to  wait 
for  God  to  do  anything  which  He  has  not  already  done  ;  but, 
in  full  reliance  upon  Him  for  whatsoever  aid  we  can  possibly 
need,  to  do  for  ourselves  the  things  which  He  enjoins  upon 
us,  in  order  that  we  may  be  revived  and  restored  to  spiritual 
prosperity.  For  when  we  act  as  we  would  if  we  were  revived, 
we  are  already  in  the  midst  of  a  revival.  Thus,  and  not  other- 
wise, will  any  revival  ever  come  to  us,  and  we  be  prepared 
for  our  Lord's  coming.  For  surely  He  will  come  quickly  to 
us  all,  in  great  mercy  and  blessing  to  those  who  wait,  look, 
watch,  and  pray  for,  who  love  and  hasten  unto.  His  appear- 
ing ;  and  with  equally  great  judgments  upon  all  whom  He 
shall  find  with  their  hearts  absorbed  in  luxury  and  worldliness, 
sunken  in  spiritual  sloth,  sleeping  the  sleep  of  spiritual  death. 


X 


EPISTLE  TO  THE  CHURCH  IN  PHILADELPHIA     THE  CHURCH 
VICTORIOUS   OVER   HER   ENEMIES      III   /-1 3 

In  this  Epistle,  which  is  the  sixth  in  the  series,  we  have 
the  portrait  of  a  church  without  reproacli,  in  a  high  state  of 
spiritual  prosperity  :  a  charming  picture. 

7  And  unto  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Philadelphia  write :  These 
things  saith  the  Holy,  the  True;  who  hath  the  key  of  David;  who 
openeth,  and  no  man  shall  shut,  and  who  shutteth,  and  no  man  shall 
open. 

Philadelphia  was  an  inland  city,  about  25  miles  in  a  south- 
easterly direction  from  Sardis.  It  was  of  comparatively  re- 
cent origin,  having  been  founded  by  Attains  Philadelphus, 
one  of  the  later  successors  of  Alexander.  He  called  it  after 
his  own  name  Philadelphia,  which,  as  is  well  known,  signi- 
fies brotherly  love,  but  without  reference  to  the  Christian 
idea,  for  the  surname  of  its  founder  was  not  uncommon 
among  the  pagan  Greeks.  It  was  the  last  place  in  all  Asia 
Minor  to  fall  under  the  dominion  of  the  Turks,  who  call  it 
to  this  day,  but  for  what  reason  I  do  not  know,  Allah-Shar, 
the  city  of  God.  It  has  now  a  population  of  about  15,000 
souls,  a  considerable  proportion  of  whom  are  Christians  ; 
also  5  churches,  and  the  ruins  of  24  others.  One  of  its 
Turkish  mosques  is  believed  by  the  Christians  of  the  place 
to  be  the  same  building  in  which  the  church  of  this  Epistle 
worshipped,  of  which,  however,  there  is  no  probability.  The 
ruins  are  very  remarkable,  especially  four  noble  pillars  yet 
standing  in  situ,  and  bearing  very  ancient  inscriptions.  They 
formerly  supported  the  dome  of  a  great  Christian  church, 
and  they  strongly  remind  one  cf  the  promise  in  this  Epistle  : 
"  He  that  overcometh,  I  will  make  him  a  pillar  in  the  temple 
(90) 


THE  CHURCH  VICTORIOUS 


91 


of  my  God  .  .  and  will  write  upon  him  the  name  of  my  God, 
and  the  name  of  the  city  of  my  God  .  .  and  my  new  name." 
Of  the  founder  of  this  church,  and  of  its  pastor  at  this  time, 
we  know  nothing. 

The  Lord  here  claims  to  be  '  the  Holy  '  and  '  the  True  '  ap- 
parently with  reference  to  the  character  of  the  Philadelphian 
Christians,  whom  He  has  hallowed  or  sanctified  unto  Him- 
self, as  His  true  people,  in  contrast  with  the  false  Jews,  the 
synagogue  of  Satan,  who  have  rejected  Him,  and  thus  alien- 
ated themselves  from  'the  commonwealth  of  Israel'  (Eph.  ii. 
12).  For  by  these  claims  He  identifies  Himself  with  'the 
Holy  One  of  Israel,'  who  spoke  by  all  their  prophets,  and 
with  the  Messiah,  '  the  Holy  One  of  God,'  concerning  whom 
they  prophesied,  and  who  is  '  the  true  God  and  eternal  life ' 
(i  John  V.  20),  His  '  having  the  key  of  David  '  seems  to  refer 
to  the  members  of  this  church  as  being  those  whom  He  has 
received  into  His  household,  and  whom  He  will  receive  into 
the  New  Jerusalem,  in  contrast  with  the  unbelieving  Jews, 
against  whom  He  shuts  the  door.  There  is  also  in  this  ex- 
pression a  further  reference  to  what  had  been  said  of  Eliakim 
the  son  of  Hilkiah,  who,  in  his  pure  and  noble  character,  in 
his  dib.tinguished  services  as  'a  father  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Jerusalem,'  and  in  his  office  as  '  master  of  the  king's  house- 
hold,' was  an  eminent  type  of  Christ  ;  in  consequence  of 
which,  the  Lord  here  applies  to  Himself  the  following  words, 
which  were  originally  spoken  concerning  this  Eliakim:  "The 
key  of  the  house  of  David  I  will  lay  upon  his  shoulder  ;  so  he 
shall  open,  and  none  shall  shut;  and  he  shall  shut,  and  none 
shall  open"  (Is.  xxii.  22):  the  keys  of  ancient  locks  being 
often  very  large,  so  that  they  were  carried  on  men's  shoul- 
ders. The  house  of  David  is  the  type  of  the  church,  the 
Lord's  spiritual  house,  '  whose  house  are  we '  (Heb.  iii.  6), 
of  which  He  here  claims  to  hold  the  key,  with  absolute  au- 
thority to  admit,  or  exclude,  whomsoever  He  sees  fit.  The 
words  are  of  great  value,  as  showing  that  He  has  not  dele- 
gated '  the  power  of  the  keys,'  as  it  is  called,  to  subordinates, 
whether  apostles,  pope,  or  priesthood,  or  St.  Peter  himself, 
in  any  such  sense  as  to  imply  that  He  does  not  retain  it  in 


92 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


His  own  hands.  Hence  His  words  to  St.  Peter,  "  I  will  give 
unto  thee  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  whatsoever 
thou  shalt  bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound  in  heaven  ;  and  what- 
soever thou  shalt  loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven  " 
(Mat.  xvi.  19),  and  similar  words  to  the  other  apostles,  must 
be  understood  consistently  with  His  continuing  to  hold  these 
keys  Himself.  In  fact,  the  words  evidently  contain  a  strong 
oriental  hyperbole,  such  as  is  very  common  in  the  sayings  of 
Christ,  to  signify  that  St.  Peter  and  the  other  apostles  should 
exert  an  immense  influence  in  bringing  people  into  the  king- 
dom, and  beyond  this  they  are  not  to  be  pressed  ;  for,  taken 
in  any  literal  sense,  they  would  require  us  to  believe  that 
some  in  heaven  are  'bound,'  which  is  absurd.  All  that  St. 
Peter,  or  the  other  apostles,  could  ever  do,  and  all  that  the 
church  can  now  do,  by  this  power  of  the  keys,  is  to  be  the 
Lord's  instruments  in  opening  the  doors  of  the  church  to 
those  whom  He  receives,  and  in  shutting  them  against  those 
whom  He  rejects.  For  it  is  only  where  human  agency  meets 
His  approval  that  it  is  valid.  In  all  other  cases,  it  has  no 
more  efficacy  than  anything  done  by  Simon  Magus  or  Judas 
Iscariot.  Hence  it  follows,  which  in  our  modern  sectarian- 
ism is  often  lost  sight  of,  that  no  branch  of  the  church  has 
any  lawful  authority  to  prescribe  such  doctrinal  term.s  of 
communion  as  will  exclude  any  of  the  Lord's  true  people, 
for  this  is  to  be  guilty  of  the  sin  of  schism.  Hence  the  ex- 
ceeding brevity  and  catholicity  of  the  Apostles'  Creed.* 

8  I  know  thy  works :  behold,  I  have  set  before  thee  a  door  opened, 
and  no  man  is  able  to  shut  it :  [I  know]  that  thou  hast  little  strength, 
and  hast  held  fast  my  word,  and  hast  not  denied  my  name. 

These  must  all  be  understood  as  good  works,  since  there  is 
no  rebuke.  The  'door  opened'  seems  to  have  a  double 
reference:  (i)  to  that  by  which  the  church  herself,  that  is, 
her  members,  should  enter  mto  the  future  glories  of  the 
kingdom,  to  '  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb  '  (Rev.  xix. 
9),  the  door  of  which  is  here  set  open  before  her  by  the  Bride- 


*  See  Wisdom  of  Holy  Serif  ture,  xiii. 


THE  CHURCH  VICTORIOUS  93 

groom  Himself,  and  no  one  is  able  to  shut  it:  (2)  to  that  by 
which  she  should  bring  others  into  the  kingdom,  which  is, 
in  fact,  the  same  door,  as  in  the  words  of  St.  Paul:  "I  will 
tarry  at  Ephesus  .  .  for  a  great  and  effectual  door  has  been 
opened  unto  me,  and  there  are  many  adversaries"  (i  Cor. 
xvi.  8)  ;  also,  in  the  following:  ''They  rehearsed  all  things 
that  God  had  done  by  them,  and  how  He  had  opened  the 
door  of  faith  to  the  gentiles "  (Acts  xiv.  37).  This  latter 
sense  of  the  opened  door  is  further  confirmed  by  the  success 
promised  to  the  church  in  subduing  her  enemies.  Her 
feebleness  seems  to  refer,  not  at  all  to  her  spiritual  state,  but 
to  the  fewness  of  her  members,  and  the  inadequateness  of 
her  means  and  instrumentalities,  in  comparison  with  the 
numbers  and  wealth  of  the  Jewish  synagogue  with  which 
she  had  to  contend.  For  the  fact,  that,  in  those  times  of 
persecution,  she  had  held  fast  to  her  Lord's  word,  and  to  the 
confession  of  His  name,  with  a  fidelity  which  merited  such 
p/aise  from  Him,  is  evidence  of  very  great  spiritual  strength. 

9  Behold,  I  do  give  [them]  of  the  synagogue  of  Satan,  who  say 

they  are  Jew^s,  and  are  not,  but  do  lie behold,  I  will  make  them 

to  come  and  worship  before  thy  feet,  and  they  shall  know  that  I  have 
loved  thee. 

We  learn  from  this  that  there  were  in  Philadelphia,  as  in 
Smyrna  (57),  those  who  claimed  to  be,  and,  no  doubt,  were 
Jews,  either  by  descent,  or  as  proselytes,  but  who,  from  their 
bitter  enmity  to  the  cross  and  people  of  Christ,  were  no 
longer  of  the  true  Israel,  but  rather  a  synagogue  of  Satan. 
By  the  way,  this  treatment  of  the  Lord  and  His  church  by 
the  Jews  was  the  origin  of  that  subsequent  persecution  of 
them  by  Christians  with  which  the  history  of  the  world  is 
darkened,  and  which  has  not  yet  ceased.  It  is  remarkable 
also  that  the  Mohammedans  have  always  been  as  bitter  per- 
secutors of  them  as  the  Christians  themselves,  and  they  give 
the  same  reason  for  it,  namely,  their  murder  of  Jesus,  whom 
all  Islam  regards  as  a  great  prophet.  In  America,  it  never 
had  any  place,  and  it  has  nearly  ceased  in  all  Protestant 
countries.     Of    course,  there  can  be  no  justification  of    it. 


^4  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

The  most  that  can  be  said  in  palliation  is,  that  such  persecu- 
tion originated  with  the 'Christ-killers  '  themselves,  whose 
hatred  continues  to  this  day,  so  that  the  most  zealous  among 
them  spit  when  His  name  is  mentioned.  In  the  promise  here 
given,  that  they  shall  be  made  to  come  and  worship  at  the 
feet  of  the  church,  there  seems  to  be  a  double  prophecy:  (i) 
of  the  humiliation  they  were  destined  to  suffer  from  Chris- 
tians, whom  they  were  then  persecuting  with  such  blind  fury; 
(2)  of  their  conversion  to  Christianity;  for  as  the  ingather- 
ing of  the  gentiles  is  often  represented  in  the  prophets  under 
the  image  of  their  doing  homage  and  paying  tribute  to 
Zion,  so  here  under  a  similar  image  the  conversion  of  the 
Jews  seems  to  be  foreshadowed.  This  prediction  is  still  fur- 
ther emphasized  by  the  words,  '  and  they  shall  know  that  I 
have  loved  thee,'  as  if  He  had  said:  I  will  make  them  to 
know  that  the  Christian  church,  and  not  the  Jewish  syna- 
gogue, is  the  object  of  my  love;  and  such  knowledge  almost 
necessarily  implies  their  conversion.  Moreover,  since  they 
are  the  last  enemies  to  be  subdued  by  grace,  according  to 
the  statement,  '  A  hardness  hath  befallen  Israel  in  pari, 
until  the  fulness  of  the  gentiles  be  come  in'  (Rom.  xi.  25), 
we  have  in  this  prophecy,  as  in  many  others,  a  divine  assur- 
ance that  the  church  shall  ultimately  triumph  over  all  her 
enemies,  which,  indeed,  is  the  leading  idea  of  the  Epistle  : 
nor  should  we  fail  to  recall  here  the  words  of  the  prophet  to 
which  there  is  a  pointed  allusion: 

The  sons  also  of  them  that  afflicted  thee  shaU  come  bending  unto  thee  ; 

And  all  they  that  despised  thee  shall  bow  themselves  at  the  soles  of  thy  feet  (Is.  Ix.  14). 

10  Because  thou  hast  kept  the  word  of  my  patience,  I  also  will 
keep  thee  from  the  hour  of  temptation  which  must  come  upon  the 
whole  world  to  tempt  them  that  dwell  upon  the  earth. 

Here  the  church  is  still  furthur  commended,  and  receives 
an  additional  promise  in  reward  of  her  fidelity.  For  the 
word  of  the  Lord's  patience,  or  endurance,  is  doubtless  that 
of  the  gospel  in  general,  but  with  special  reference  to  His 
declaration  :  "Whosoever  doth  not  bear  his  cross,  and  come 
after  me,  cannot  be  my  disciple  "  (Luke  xiv.  27)  ;  for  in  such 


THE  CHURCH  VICTORIOUS 


95 


cross-bearing  this  church  has  been  conspicuously  patient ;  in 
gracious  recognition  of  which  He  now  gives  her  this  assur- 
ance, that  He  will  keep  her  from  being  swept  away  by  the 
judgments  that  are  coming  upon  all  the  world  for  the  temp- 
tation, or  trial,  of  its  inhabitants  :  and  in  fulfilment  of  this 
promise  the  church  of  Philadelphia  seems  never  to  have 
become  extinct. 

Ill  come  quickly :  hold  fast  that  which  thou  hast,  that  no  man  take 
thy  crown. 

This  is  another  indication  of  the  nature  of  the  Lord's 
coming  (85)  ;  for  the  words,  '  I  come  quickly,'  evidently  refer 
to  the  hour  of  temptation,  which  was  imminent ;  such  times 
of  trial  being  one  way  in  which  He  manifests  Himself  for  the 
purpose  of  sifting  His  people  out  of  the  world,  and  of  per- 
fecting their  faith  and  patience.  This  crown  is  '  the  crown 
of  life '  (59)  the  church's  reward  of  victory  over  her  ene- 
mies and  her  temptations  to  apostasy  and  to  declension  in 
piety  ;  but  she  must  continue  to  hold  fast  what  she  has 
attained,  or  she  will  yet  forfeit  her  crown. 

12  He  that  overcometh,  I  -will  make  him  a  pillar  in  the  temple  of 
my  God,  and  he  shall  no  more  go  out  of  it ;  and  I  will  write  upon  him 
the  name  of  my  God,  and  the  name  of  the  city  of  my  God,  New  Jeru- 
salem, which  Cometh  down  out  of  heaven  from  my  God,  and  my  new 
name. 

The  symbolism  of  the  temple  is  naturally  very  rich  and 
varied.  Its  fundamental  idea  is  that  of  the  peculiar  dwelling 
place  of  God  ;  whence  it  comes  to  signify  the  church,  or  His 
people,  in  whom  He  dwells  ;  and  it  continues  to  bear  one  or 
other  of  these  symbolical  meanings  until  it  is  superseded  by 
the  New  Jerusalem.  The  church  is  the  spiritual  temple  of 
God,  as  in  the  words  :  "  Know  ye  not  that  ye  are  the  temple 
of  God,  and  that  the  Spirit  of  God  dwelleth  in  you  ?  .  .  .  The 
temple  of  God  is  holy,  which  temple  ye  are  "  (i  Cor.  iii.  16-17). 
Hence  this  promise  to  the  conqueror  is,  that  he  shall  be  made 
a  pillar  in  this  spiritual  temple,  i.  e.  one  of  its  chief  supports 
and  ornaments,  but  especially  a  fixture  ;  this  last  idea  being 
emphasized  by  the  additional  words,  '  and  he  shall  no  more 


96  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

go  out  of  it.'  Also,  the  Lord  will  write  upon  him,  still  con- 
ceived of  under  the  image  of  a  pillar,  the  name  of  His  God  ; 
as"  we  shall  see  hereafter  that  His  people  have  His  Father's 
name  sealed  on  their  foreheads,  to  denote  that  they  belong 
to  Him,  and  that  He  has  taken  possession  of  their  faculties 
and  powers.  Moreover,  the  Lord  will  write  upon  him  the 
name  of  the  city  of  His  God,  New  Jerusalem,  to  signify  that 
he  shall  be  a  partaker  of  all  the  beatitudes  and  glories  of 
that  everlasting  dwelling  place  of  God  and  the  Lamb.  Its 
descent  from  heaven  will  require  to  be  fully  considered  in 
the  sequel.  Finally,  the  Lord  will  v/rite  upon  the  conqueror 
his  own  new  name,  probably  '  the  Word  of  God,'  which  is 
first  applied  to  Him  in  the  writings  of  St.  John,  to  signify 
that  he  shall  be  a  possessor  of  Christ  as  the  manifestation  of 
God  to  his  own  soul,  and  shall  become  thereby  such  a  mani- 
festation to  others.  The  frequent  repetition  here  by  the 
Lord  Jesus  of  the  words,  '  my  God,'  should  be  carefully 
noted,  in  order  to  guard  against  the  error  which  merges  and 
obscures  the  worship  of  the  Father  in  that  of  the  Son.  We 
should  worship  Him  whom  Jesus  Christ  worshipped. 

13  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto 
the  churches  (49). 

The  several  points  of  instruction  and  consolation  in  this 
Epistle,  which  can  never  lose  their  interest  for  the  Lord's 
people,  are  such  as  the  following  : 

1.  This  is  the  second  of  these  typical  and  representative 
churches  for  which  the  Lord  has  no  rebuke,  only  praise  ; 
which  re-emphasizes  the  great  lesson  (60),  that  it  is  prac- 
ticable for  us  so  to  live  that  He  will  have  no  need  to  speak 
to  us  any  but  the  most  comforting  words.  For  He  is  not  a 
hard  master  ;  "  His  commandments  are  not  grievous  (i  John 
V.  3).  Like  as  a  father  pitieth  his  children,  so  the  Lord 
pitieth  them  that  fear  Him  ;  For  He  knoweth  our  frame,  He 
remembereth  that  we  are  dust  (Ps.  ciii.  13-14).  And  I  will 
spare  them  as  a  man  spareth  his  own  son  that  serveth 
him  "  (Mai.  iii.  17). 

2.  In  several  of  these  Epistles,  besides  those  which  con- 


THE  CHURCH  VICTORIOUS 


97 


tain  no  rebukes,  there  are  abundant  expressions  of  com- 
mendation and  praise  ;  which  reveals  a  trait  of  the  Lord's 
character  often  lost  sight  of,  namely,  that  He  delights  to 
praise  His  people,  rather  than  to  rebuke  them,  whenever 
it  can  be  done  with  safety.  For  w^e  cannot  understand  that 
the  members  of  this  church  were  faultless  (6i);  but  they 
were  in  that  state  in  which  commendation  would  be  more 
efficacious  than  censure,  or  chastisement,  to  strengthen  their 
faith  and  perfect  their  piety.  He  resorts  to  severity  only 
where  He  sees  that  praise  would  be  misunderstood,  and 
w^ould  do  harm  :  in  all  which.  He  sets  a  lovely  example  to 
parents,  pastors,  teachers,  and  masters,  in  the  treatment  of 
their  children  and  people. 

3.  Our  dear  Lord  knows  how  little  strength  w^e  have,  and 
makes  provision  for  us  according  to  our  need.  Hence  the 
fewness  of  our  numbers,  our  poverty  in  this  world's  goods,  the 
feebleness  of  our  means  and  appliances  to  influence  the 
great  world  around  us,  are  no  reasons  for  discouragement, 
even  in  the  greatest  undertakings  ;  for  it  is  not  by  human 
power  or  wisdom  that  anything  is  accomplished  in  the  up- 
building of  His  kingdom  :  ''  Not  by  an  army,  nor  by  powder, 
but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  (Zech.  iv.  6).  Not 
many  wise  after  the  flesh,  not  many  mighty,  not  many  noble: 
but  God  hath  chosen  the  foolish  things  of  the  world,  that 
He  might  put  to  shame  them  that  are  wise,  and  .  .  the  weak 
things  of  the  world,  that  He  might  put  to  shame  the  things 
that  are  strong  ;  and  the  base  things  of  the  world,  and  the 
things  that  are  despised  .  .  and  the  things  that  are  not,  that 
He  might  bring  to  nought  the  things  that  are  "  (i  Cor.  i.  26- 
28).  It  was  in  this  faith  that  the  pious  king  Asa  cried  unto 
God  against  the  innumerable  host  of  the  Ethiopians:  "Lord, 
there  is  none  like  thee  to  help  between  the  mighty  and  him 
that  hath  no  strength  "  (2  Chron.  xiv.  11);  and  by  this  faith 
he  conquered.  Thus  the  Lord  said  to  His  few  illiterate  dis- 
ciples :  "The  field  is  the  world  (Mat.  xiii.  38).  Go  ye,  there- 
fore, and  make  disciples  of  all  nations.  And,  lo,  I  am 
with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world  "  (xxviii. 
19-20).  This  great  truth  is  exemplified  also  in  the  whole 
5 


98  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

history  of  His  church  and  gospel.  Let  us  remember,  then, 
whenever  we  are  tempted  to  discouragement  from  such 
feebleness,  His  blessed  words,  '  I  know  thou  hast  little 
strength,'  that  we  may  be  able  to  say  with  holy  Paul  :  "  When 
I  am  weak,  then  am  I  strong  (2  Cor.  xii.  10).  I  can  do  all 
things  through  Christ  who  strengtheneth  me"  (Phil.  iv.  13). 

4.  Here  again  we  are  admonished  against  declension  in 
piety  (51);  for  this  admonition  is  several  times  repeated  and 
insisted  on  (88);  which  strongly  emphasizes  our  proneness 
to  such  declensions  and  the  great  evil  of  them.  The  reason 
of  this  is,  that  they  put  our  salvation  in  jeopardy  ;  and  the 
Lord's  grace  is  something  too  costly  and  precious  to  be 
carelessl)'^  lost  without  great  guilt.  Hence  our  holding  fast 
what  we  have  attained  is  the  indispensable  condition  of 
obtaining  our  crown.  In  fact,  such  declension  is  always  a 
state  bordering  on  final  apostasy  :  ''  For  it  is  impossible  for 
those  who  have  once  been  enlightened,  and  have  tasted  of 
the  heavenly  gift,  and  have  been  made  partakers  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  have  tasted  the  good  word  of  God,  and  the 
powers  of  the  world  to  come,  and  fall  away,  to  renew  them 
again  unto  repentance,  seeing  they  crucify  to  themselves  the 
Son  of  God  afresh,  and  put  Him  to  open  shame "  (Heb. 
vi.  4-6). 

5.  We  have  here  prescribed  the  way  in  which  we  shall  be 
kept  by  our  Lord  in  every  hour  of  temptation  ;  shall  over- 
come all  our  enemies,  and  be  the  means  of  the  salvation  of 
many  :  this  is,  that  with  patient  endurance  we  hold  fast  His 
word,  and  the  confession  of  His  name  (64);  "For  with  the 
heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness,  and  with  the  mouth 
confession  is  made  unto  salvation"  (Rom.  x.  10).  The  in- 
dividual soul  that  shall  continue  thus  faithful  shall  be  made 
a  pillar  in  the  temple  of  God,  and  upon  him  shall  be  written 
indelibly  the  name  of  God,  the  name  of  the  holy  city  of  God, 
and  his  Lord's  new  name  ;  and  when  the  church  at  large 
shall  come  to  have  this  character,  all  her  enemies  will  come 
to  worship  at  her  feet,  being  made  to  know  that  she  is  the 
beloved  of  the  Lord  with  an  inalienable  love. 


XI 


EPISTLE  TO  THE   CHURCH   IN  LAODICEA     THE   LUKEWARM 
CHURCH      III    14-22 

This  is  the  seventh  and  last  of  the  Epistles,  and  it  closes 
the  first  series  of  these  revelations.  It  represents  the  church 
in  a  state  of  lukewarm  piety,  and  threatens  her  with  repro- 
bation. But  her  case  is  not  hopeless,  for  she  is  carefully  in- 
structed how  to  recover  herself,  and  her  rebukes  are  softened 
with  gracious  assurances  that  they  proceed  from  the  love  of 
her  Lord. 

14  And  unto  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Laodicea  write  :  These 
things  saith  the  Amen,  the  faithful  and  true  ■witness,  the  beginning  of 
the  creation  of  God. 

Laodicea  was  situated  about  10  miles  from  Philadelphia, 
and  40  from  Ephesus  ;  for  all  these  cities  were  included 
within  a  parallelogram  of  40  by  60  miles  ;  so  densely  popu- 
lous was  that  beautiful  country  before  it  was  devastated  by 
the  Mohammedan  conquests.  This  city,  under  another  name, 
had  been  quite  destroyed  by  an  earthquake,  and  rebuilt  by 
Antiochus  Theos,  one  of  the  Seleucid  successors  of  Alexan- 
der, who  re-named  it  after  his  queen  Laodice.  It  soon  be- 
came very  populous  and  wealthy  ;  for  when  it  was  again  de- 
stroyed by  an  earthquake,  in  the  reign  of  Nero  35  or  40 
years  before  this  Epistle,  it  was  entirely  rebuilt  more  splen- 
didly than  before  by  the  v/ealth  of  its  own  citizens.  It  is 
nothing  now  but  a  heap  of  ruins.  This  church  was  already 
in  existence  when  St.  Paul  wrote  his  Epistle  to  the  Christians 
at  Colossae,  another  city  not  more  than  10  miles  from  Lao- 
dicea, wherein  he  says  :  "  I  would  that  ye  knew  what  great 
conflict  I  have  for  you,  and  for  them  at  Laodicea,  and  for 
as  many  as  have  not  seen  my  face  in  the  flesh  (Col.  ii.  i). 

(99) 


100  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

Salute  the  brethren  who  are  at  Laodicea.  .  .  .  And  when  this 
Epistle  hath  been  read  among  you,  cause  that  it  be  read  also 
in  the  church  of  the  Laodiceans,  and  that  yc  also  read  the 
Epistle  from  Laodicea"  (iv.  15-16),  i.  e.  the  one  which  they 
should  obtain  from  that  church.  Hence  it  has  been  supposed 
tliat  he  had  written  a  letter  to  the  Laodiceans  which  is  now 
lost  ;  but  more  probably  he  refers  to  his  Epistle  to  the 
Ephesians,  which,  there  is  good  reason  to  believe,  was  a  cir- 
cular letter  addressed  to  several  churches,  among  which  this 
at  Laodicea  may  have  been  one. 

The  Lord  calls  Himself  '  the  Amen '  in  the  sense  that  He  is 
the  truth  itself,  for  this  is  a  Hebrew  word  which  has  that 
signification,  and  it  occurs  where  God  is  spoken  of  as  'the 
God  of  truth'  (Is.  Ixv.  16).  Here  it  may  contain  a  reference 
also  to  the  following :  "  I  am  the  way  and  the  truth  and  the 
life  (John  xvi.  6).  In  Him  is  the  yea,  and  in  Him  is  the 
amen  "  (i  Cor.  i.  20).  *  The  faithful  witness '  has  occurred  be- 
fore in  the  greeting  to  the  churches  (15),  and  here  '  true '  is 
added,  for  truthfulness  is  a  consequence  of  faithfulness  in 
witness-bearing.  And  surely  it  is  one  of  the  greatest  things 
that  we  have  the  witnessing  of  the  Lord  Himself  to  these  and 
all  the  revelations  of  the  spiritual  world  upon  which  our  sal- 
vation depends  ;  for  since  He  certainly  does  not  mean  to  de- 
ceive, and  cannot  Himself  be  deceived,  all  things  must  be  as 
He  represents  them.  But  in  what  sense  does  He  call  Him- 
self 'the  beginning  of  the  creation  of  God  '  ?  Here  we  must 
bear  in  mind  that  this  word  has  several  meanings,  among 
which  are  the  two  following,  which  require  to  be  sharply 
discriminated  :  (i)  the  first  part  of  anything,  as  the  twilight 
hour  is  the  beginning  of  the  day  :  (2)  that  from  which  any- 
thing originates  as  its  cause,  as  the  sun's  rising  is  the  begin- 
ning of  the  day  :  and  that  it  is  to  be  taken  here,  not  in  the 
former,  but  in  the  latter  sense,  is  evident  from  the  proem  of 
St.  John's  Gospel  :  "  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the 
Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God.  .  .  .  All  things 
were  made  by  Him,  and  without  Him  was  not  anything 
made  that  was  made  "  (John  i.  1-3)  :  for  in  no  sense  can  the 
Creator  of  all  things  be  a  part  of  the  creation.     Christ,  as  to 


THE  LUKEWARM  CHURCH  lOi 

the  substance  of  His  divine  nature,  is  one  with  the  Father  ; 
as  to  His  divine  personality,  He  is  eternally  'begotten,  not 
made,  very  God  of  very  God  '  (72).  The  whole  of  this  intro- 
duction is  obviously  intended  to  impress  the  conviction  that 
what  is  contained  in  the  Epistle  is  the  truth  of  God  which 
none  can  neglect  but  at  their  own  peril. 

15  I  know  thy  w^orks,  that  thou  art  neither  cold  nor  hot :  I  would 
thou  wert  cold  or  hot :  16  so,  because  thou  art  lukewarm,  and  neither 
hot  nor  cold,  I  will  spevy  thee  out  of  my  mouth  : 

This  is  one  of  the  most  terrible  rebukes  in  the  whole 
Scripture  ;  although  this  lukewarmness  of  the  church  is  not 
an  utter  destitution  of  spiritual  life,  but  rather  a  lack  of  zeal, 
a  feeble  realization  of  divine  things,  indifference  to  the  reali- 
ties of  eternity;  in  which  her  sins,  her  obligations,  the  lovC' 
of  God,  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  heaven  and  hell,  make  no 
adequate  or  suitable  impression  upon  her,  but  she  yields 
herself  to  worldly  and  carnal  indulgences.  The  words,  '  I 
would  thou  wert  cold  or  hot,'  are  not  to  be  taken  in  their 
literal  or  strongest  sense,  but  rather  as  a  figurative  expres- 
sion of  the  offensiveness  of  this  state  ;  which  is  still  further 
emphasized  by  the  loathsome  image  whereby  the  Lord 
threatens  her  with  rejection  and  reprobation,  unless  she 
shall  repent  and  reform.  In  similar  strong  figures,  but  with 
more  particularity,  her  spiritual  state  is  described  in  what 
immediately  follows. 

17  Because  thou  sayest,  I  am  rich  and  increased  with  goods  and 
have  need  of  nothing,  and  know^est  not  that  thou  art  wretched  and 
miserable  and  poor  and  blind  and  naked  :  18  I  counsel  thee  to  buy  of 
me  gold  purified  with  fire,  that  thou  mayest  be  lich,  and  white  gar- 
ments, that  thou  mayest  clothe  thyself,  and  that  the  shame  of  thy 
nakedness  may  not  appear,  and  eye-salve  to  anoint  thine  eyes,  that 
thou  mayest  see. 

The  word  '  Because  '  here  may  have  reference  either  to  the 
preceding  threat,  or  to  the  following  *  counsel,'  and  possibly 
to  both.  In  the  former  case,  what  immediately  follows  is  to 
be  understood  as  a  further  unfolding  of  'lukewarm  ';  in  the 


102  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

latter,  it  expresses  the  reason  for  this  counsel.  The  general 
idea  is,  that  the  church  is  in  a  wretched  and  pitiable  state  of 
spiritual  destitution,  and  does  not  know  it,  but  regards  her- 
self with  complacency.  From  the  forms  of  expression  used 
it  is  probable  that  her  self-complacency  was  connected  with 
worldly  wealth  and  outward  prosperity,  in  strong  contrast 
with  the  temporal  poverty  and  spiritual  riches  of  the  church 
in  Smyrna  {56).  In  the  words,  'I  counsel  thee,'  there  is  the 
same  figure  of  speech  that  has  occurred  twice  before  (87),  in 
which  a  feeble  expression  is  chosen  to  suggest  a  strong  one, 
as  we  sometimes  say  to  disobedient  servants,  I  advise  you  not 
to  do  so  any  more.  Gold  is  a  symbol  of  the  preciousness  of 
the  graces  of  salvation  {2)2))i  ^^^  here  apparently  with  special 
reference  to  faith  purified  by  the  endurance  of  temptation, 
as  in  the  following  :  "  Ye  have  been  put  to  grief  in  manifold 
temptations,  that  the  trial  of  your  faith,  more  precious  than 
gold  which  perisheth,  and  it  is  tried  with  fire,  may  be  found 
unto  praise  and  glory  and  honor  at  the  unveiling  of  Jesus 
Christ"  (i  Pet.  i.  6-7).  This  faith,  which  is  the  only  true 
riches  because  it  brings  us  into  possession  of  all  the  treas- 
ures of  heaven,  the  church  is  to  obtain  from  her  Lord  :  "For 
by  grace  ye  are  saved  through  faith,  and  that  not  of  your- 
selves, it  is  the  gift  of  God  (Eph.  ii.  8).  And  the  apostles 
said  unto  the  Lord,  Increase  our  faith  "  (Luke  xvii.  5). 
From  Him  also  she  must  obtain  these  Svhite  garments,' 
which  represent  the  purity  and  victory  of  those  who  over- 
come their  temptations  (85).  Thus  clothed,  or  purified, 
the  shame  of  her  nakedness  will  be  covered,  i.  e.  her  sin  of 
lukewarmness  will  be  forgiven.  For  the  shame  of  the  naked 
body  is  the  symbol  of  the  spiritual  shame  of  sin,  and  the 
covering  of  nakedness  signifies  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  as  in 
the  words  : 

Blessed  is  he  whose  transgfression  is  forgiven 
Whose  sin  is  covered  *  (Ps.  xxxii.  i). 

In  fine,  this  anointing  for  the  eyes  is  the  symbol  of  illumin- 
ation by  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  elsewhere  it  is  said  :  "Ye  have 


*  For  a  more  full  elucidation  of  these  interesting  symbols  see   Wisdom  0/  Holy 
Scripture,  viii. 


THE  LUKEWARM  CHURCH 


103 


an  anointing  from  the  Holy  One.  .  .  .  His  anointing  teach- 
eth  you  concerning  all  things  "  (i  John  ii.  20-27).  These 
admonitions  are  for  the  purpose  of  awakening  in  the  church 
the  feeling  of  spiritual  want,  and  of  directing  her  to  the  only 
source  from  which  it  can  be  supplied.  Moreover,  in  this 
energetic  counsel  to  *  buy '  these  precious  things  of  her 
Lord,  there  is  another  figure  of  speech,  which  implies  that 
they  are  above  all  price,  as  in  the  prophet :  "  Come  ye  to  the 
waters  ;  and  he  that  hath  no  money,  come  ye,  buy  and  eat  ; 
yea,  come  buy  wine  and  milk  without  money  and  without 
price  "  (Is.  Iv.  i).  This  is  the  buying  that  is  here  intended  ; 
for  spiritual  blessings  are  priceless,  and  must  be  received  as 
a  free  gift,  or  they  cannot  be  received  at  all. 

19  As  many  as  I  love  I  rebuke  and  chasten ;  be  zealous,  therefore, 
and  repent. 

Thus  the  church  is  tenderly  reminded  that  her  Lord's  love 
is  not  yet  alienated,  and  that  His  rebukes  and  chastisements 
are  its  fruits  and  evidences  :  a  lesson  so  precious  that  it  is 
much  insisted  on,  as  in  the  following  words  :  "  My  son,  de- 
spise not  the  chastening  of  the  Lord,  nor  faint  when  thou  art 
rebuked  of  Him  ;  for  whom  the  Lord  loveth  He  chasteneth, 
and  scourgeth  every  son  whom  Hereceiveth"  (Heb.  xii.  5-6). 
But  this  love  of  her  Lord  must  become  to  her  an  all-con- 
straining motive  to  repentance  for  her  sin  of  lukewarmness, 
and  to  the  renewal  of  her  zeal  for  His  glory  ;  otherwise  His 
rebukes  will  cease  to  be  the  tokens  of  love,  and  will  become 
evidences  of  reprobation. 

20  Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock  :  if  any  man  hear  my 
voice,  and  open  the  door,  I  vyillcome  in  to  him,  and  sup  with  him,  and 
he  v^ith  me. 

A  gracious  assurance  this,  that  the  Lord  has  not  with- 
drawn from  His  church,  but  still  waits  to  be  gracious  ;  for 
He  is  very  patient  and  long-suffering,  longing  to  receive 
back  to  His  arms  the  penitent  soul,  as  represented  at  large 
in  the  parable  of  the  Prodigal  (Luke  xv.  11-32).  Here  also 
there  is  a  significant  allusion  to  'the  Song  of  Songs  '; 


104  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

It  is  the  voice  of  my  Beloved,  who  knocketh  : 

Open  to  me,  my  sister,  my  love,  my  dove,  my  perfect  one  ; 

For  my  head  is  filled  with  the  dew, 

My  locks  with  the  drops  of  the  night.  .  .  . 

I  opened  to  my  B; loved  ; 

But  my  Beloved  had  turned  away,  and  was  gone.  .  .  . 

I  sought  Him,  but  I  could  not  find  Him  ; 

I  called  Him,  but  He  gave  me  no  answer  (Cant.  v.  2-6). 

Recalling  this  reference,  which,  by  the  way,  is  an  indorse- 
ment of  the  Canonicity  of  that  charming  symbolical  poem, 
the  church  would  be  tenderly  reminded  that  the  Lord  was 
still  her  celestial  Bridegroom,  and  be  admonished  to  hasten 
her  repentance  and  response  to  His  knocking,  lest  He  should 
withdraw,  and  she  should  not  be  able  to  find  Him.  Here 
also  we  should  recall  His  words  :  "  If  a  man  love  me,  he  will 
keep  my  word,  and  my  Father  will  love  him,  and  we  will 
come  unto  him,  and  make  our  abode  with  him  "  (John  xiv. 
23)  ;  for  the  indwelling  of  Christ  in  the  souls  of  His  people 
includes  that  of  the  whole  Trinity.  But  with  this  fulness  of 
manifestation  He  cannot  abide  in  the  lukewarm  soul,  who 
does  not  feel  her  need  of  Him,  nor  keep  His  word,  and  has 
no  fervor  of  zeal  or  love.  It  is  only  when  she  experiences 
that '  aching  void  '  which  nothing  else  can  fill  ;  when  she  truly 
repents  of  all  her  sin-wandering  ;  when  she  hears  Him  knock- 
ing at  the  door  of  her  heart,  and  pleading  for  admission  ; 
when  she  hastens  to  open  the  door  with  a  joyful  welcome,  it 
is  only  then  that  He  comes  in  and  sups  with  her,  and  she 
with  Him  ;  then  He  becomes  both  her  guest  and  her  host ; 
He  abides  in  the  very  centre  of  her  life  and  consciousness. 
Henceforth  it  is  not  she  that  lives,  but  Christ  that  lives  in 
her  (Gal.  ii.  20).  With  festive  joy  He  takes  up  His  permanent 
abode  with  His  beloved  soul,  and  her  delight  in  His  mani- 
fested presence  and  love  is  'a  joy  unspeakable  and  full 
of  glory'  (i  Pet.  i.  8),  for  this  is  'the  marriage  supper  of 
the  Lamb.' 

21  He  that  overcometh,  unto  him  wi'l  I  give  to  sit  with  me  in  my 
throne,  as  I  also  overcame,  and  sat  with  my  Father  in  His  throne. 

This  is  the  seventh  and  last  of  these  rew  rds  of  victory, 
and  it  is  beyond  comparison  the  most  wonderful  of  them  all 


THF  LUKEWARM  CHURCH 


105 


I  shall  not  undertake  to  interpret  it  in  particulars,  for  I  do 
not  know  how  much  it  may  signify;  nor,  indeed,  can  this 
ever  be  known  otherwise  than  through  experience,  for  it  is 
written  :  "  Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  have 
entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things  which  God  hath 
prepared  for  them  that  love  Him  (i  Cor.  ii.  9).  And  it 
doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be,  but  we  know  that, 
when  He  shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like  Him,  for  we  shall  see 
Him  as  He  is  :  and  every  man  that  hath  this  hope  in  Him 
purifieth  himself,  even  as  He  is  pure  "  (i  John  iii.  2). 

22  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the 
churches  (^49). 

The  great  practical  lesson  of  thi?  Epistle  is,  that  luke- 
warmness  in  piety  is  loathsome  to  our  Lord  ;  and  there  are 
so  many  reasons  for  it,  reasons  of  such  overwhelming  force, 
that  the  wonder  is,  we  can  ever  tolerate  it  in  ourselves.  For 
in  this  state  we  have  little  or  no  sense  of  the  evil  of  sin,  nor 
of  the  worth  of  the  soul,  nor  of  the  obligations  of  grace,  nor 
of  anything  that  pertains  to  life  and  godliness  ;  none  of  these 
things,  nor  all  of  them  together,  make  any  suitable  impres- 
sion upon  our  minds  ;  we  have  no  just  appreciation  of  the 
love  of  God  in  giving  His  only  begotten  Son  to  die  for  us, 
nor  of  the  self-sacrifice  of  Christ  in  bearing  our  sins  on  the 
cross  :  but  we  think  we  can  be  saved  by  looking  upon  Him 
afar  off,  i.  e.  with  little  or  no  fellowship  or  sympathy  with  His 
sufferings  ;  without  being  crucified  with  Him  to  the  selfish 
and  worldly  life  ;  without  any  great  sacrifice  on  our  part  for 
the  cause  for  which  He  lived  and  taught  and  suffered  and 
died.  What  we  can  give  of  our  means  without  feeling  it  we 
may  give  ;  what  we  can  do  without  effort  we  may  do  :  but 
as  for  giving  ourselves  and  being  devoted  to  it,  as  He  gave 
and  devoted  Himself,  we  do  not  even  understand  what  this 
means.  We  think  He  gave  Himself  to  save  us  from  the  ne- 
cessity of  giving  ourselves  ;  that  He  was  crucified  to  save  us 
from  being  crucified  together  with  Him,  and  that  we  might 
be  free  to  secure  for  ourselves  as  much  as  possible  of  the 
wealth  and  pleasures  of  this  world.  And  we  are  mostly  in- 
5* 


I06  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

sensible  to  the  enormous  evil  of  all  this.  Sunken  in  the 
depths  of  spiritual  poverty,  we  think  we  are  rich  and  in- 
creased with  goods  ;  blind,  we  think  we  see  ;  naked,  so  that 
all  who  can  see  are  ashamed  for  us,  we  are  not  ashamed  for 
ourselves.  Such  is  the  evil  of  this  spiritual  state  that  it  is 
here  represented  as  worse,  in  a  certain  sense,  than  coldness, 
or  entire  destitution  of  life.  For  he  who  is  altogether  with- 
out piety  is  more  easily  reached  and  convinced  of  his  sin  or 
danger  than  he  who  thinks  he  has  much,  'and  knows  not 
that  he  is  wretched  and  miserable  and  poor  and  blind  and 
naked.'  Such,  moreover,  are  commonly  backsliders,  who  are 
the  hardest  of  all  to  be  reached  by  the  Lord's  grace  :  "  For 
if,  after  they  have  escaped  the  pollutions  of  the  world 
through  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ,  they  are  again  entangled  therein  and  overcome,  their 
last  state  is  worse  than  the  first ;  for  it  would  have  been  bet- 
ter for  them  not  to  have  known  the  way  of  righteousness 
than,  after  they  have  known  it,  to  turn  from  the  holy  com- 
mandment delivered  unto  them;  but  it  has  happened  unto 
them  according  to  the  proverb:  "The  dog  has  turned  to  his 
own  vomit  again,  and  the  sow  that  has  been  washed  to  her 
wallowing  in  the  mire"  (2  Pet.  ii.  20-22).  Nor  is  it  a  little 
remarkable  that  we  have  here  the  same  loathsome  image, 
though  in  a  modified  form,  which  is  used  in  our  Epistle  to 
express  the  character  of  lukewarmness. 

Thus  we  have  seen  what  sevenfold  reward  (14)  was  promised 
to  the  Christians  of  the  first  ages  who  should  come  off  con- 
querors in  their  spiritual  warfare;  and,  indeed,  it  seems  im- 
possible to  add  anything  to  these  promises  ;  by  which,  no 
doubt,  the  faith  and  patience  of  the  confessors  and  martyrs 
of  those  times  were  confirmed  and  perfected,  so  that  'they 
counted  not  their  lives  dear  unto  themselves '  (Acts  xx.  24), 
and  attained  to  a  success  m  their  ministry  of  the  gospel  and 
witness-bearing  which  has  never  since  been  equalled  (31). 
And  since  these  seven  churches  represent  the  church  in  all 
ages,  it  is  for  us,  no  less  than  it  was  for  them,  to  lay  hold  by 
faith  upon  these  promises,  that  we  thereby  may  be  enabled 
to  conquer  as  they  did.     For  our  need  is  no  less  than  was 


THE  L  UKE  WA KM  CHURCH  i  oj 

theirs,  though  our  temptations  are  different  (32).  We  have 
to  maintain  an  incessant  warfare,  not,  indeed,  against  per- 
secution, but  against  the  more  dangerous  enemies,  sloth, 
pride,  vanity,  avarice,  ambition,  sensuality,  worldliness,  im- 
morality, and  selfishness,  in  all  their  hydra-headed  forms 
(31).  We  live  in  an  age  of  scepticism  and  general  unbelief. 
Science  itself,  in  a  false  and  materialistic  development,  has 
become  a  greater  enemy  to  faith  (79)  and  a  greater  tempta- 
tion to  apostasy  than  persecution  ever  was.  It  is  safe  to  say 
that  Satan  has  never  made  a  more  deadly  assault  upon  the 
constancy  of  God's  people  than  that  which  he  is  now  mak- 
ing through  the  prevalence  of  scientific  scepticism.  We  shall 
see  hereafter  that  it  is  the  beast  out  of  the  abyss  which  slays 
the  Lord's  two  witnesses  (Rev.  xi.  7).  For  how  should  the 
faculty  of  science  in  man,  which  has  proved  itself  to  be  so 
prodigiously  sharp-sighted  and  far-seeing  in  the  development 
of  industry,  wealth,  and  worldly  civilization;  how  should  it 
be  utterly  blind  to  spiritual  and  divine  things  ?  That  is  a 
question  which  multitudes  now  find  themselves  unable  to 
answer,  and  hence  they  are  swept  away  into  the  gulf  of  un- 
belief. We  need  all  the  help  we  can  get  to  resist  and  over- 
come this  dire  temptation;  just  that  help,  indeed,  which  is  so 
graciously  and  bountifully  provided  for  us  in  these  'exceed- 
ing great  and  precious  promises,  whereby  we  are  made  par- 
takers of  a  divine  nature,  and  escape  the  corruption  that  is 
in  the  world  through  lust'  (2  Pet.  i.  4).  Let  us  feed  upon 
them,  that  we  may  be  strengthened  with  might  in  the  inner 
man,  may  fight  manfully  the  good  fight  of  faith,  and  may 
come  off  more  than  conquerors  through  Him  who  hath  loved 
us  and  given  Himself  for  us  (Rom.  viii.  37). 


XII 

VISION    OF    GOD    AND    OF    THE     CREATION    WORSHIPPING 
THE    CREATOR      IV    I-II 

This  vision  is  introductory  to  the  second  series  of  these 
revelations,  those  of  the  seven-sealed  book,  which  are  of  a 
more  profound  and  mystical  character.  We  pass  now  from 
the  conflicts  and  trials  of  the  church  to  a  vision  of  God  upon 
His  eternal  throne,  surrounded  by  the  heavenly  host,  the 
spiritual  powers  which  emanate  from  Him  and  permeate  the 
material  and  moral  universe  :  a  vision  so  wonderful  that  we 
can  almost  say  with  the  prophets :  "  I  saw  the  Lord  sitting  upon 
His  throne,  and  all  the  host  of  heaven  standing  by  Him,  on 
His  right  hand  and  on  His  left  (i  Ki.  xxii.  19).  I  saw  the  Lord 
sitting  upon  a  throne  high  and  lifted  up.  .  .  .  About  Him 
stood  the  seraphim.  Each  one  had  six  wings  :  with  twain 
he  covered  his  face,  and  with  twain  he  covered  his  feet,  and 
with  twain  he  did  fly.  And  one  cried  unto  another,  and  said, 
Holy,  holy,  holy  is  the  Lord  of  hosts  :  the  whole  earth  is  full 
of  His  glory"  (Is.  vi.  1-3).  In  this  heaven-scene,  the  whole 
creation,  as  seen  from  the  heavenly  point  of  view,  is  unveiled, 
and  we  behold  it  unceasingly  engaged  in  the  worship  of  its 
Creator  ;  thus  presenting  the  grand  ideal  that  is  to  be  per- 
fectly realized  at  the  final  coming  of  the  Lord  and  the  crown- 
ing establishment  of  His  blessed  kingdom. 

I  After  these  things,  I  sa^w,  and,  behold,  a  door  set  open  in  heaven, 
and  the  first  voice  that  I  heard  as  of  a  trumpet  speaking  with  me,  say- 
ing, Come  up  hither,  and  I  will  show  thee  what  things  shall  be  here- 
after. 

An   interval   seems  to  have    elapsed    after  the   preceding 
visions,  perhaps  a  week,  to  the  next  Lord's  Day,  in  order  to 
rest  the  mind  of  the  Seer,  and  to  give  him  time  to  write  the 
(108) 


THE  CREATION  WORSHIPPING  THE  CREATOR 


109 


Epistles  to  the  churches.  Now,  therefore,  he  sees  a  door  set 
open  in  heaven,  and  hears  the  same  trumpet  voice  which  he 
has  heard  before  (28),  calling  him  to  come  up  into  heaven, 
and  promising  to  show  him  things  that  shall  be  hereafter. 
For  the  beautiful  ideals  which  are  now  to  be  presented  will 
not  attain  to  perfect  realization  until  the  work  of  redemp- 
tion and  'restoration  of  all  things'  (Acts  iii.  21)  shall  be  ac- 
complished. But  he  is  to  ascend  into  heaven  that  he  may 
see  thero  as  they  cannot  be  made  to  appear  from  any  other 
point  of  view. 

2  Immediately  I  was  in  the  Spirit :  and,  behold,  a  throne  set  in 
heaven,  and  One  seated  upon  the  throne  :  and  He  that  sat  was  to  the 
sight  like  unto  a  jasper  stone  and  a  sardius ;  and  round  about  the 
throne  a  rainbow  to  the  sight  like  unto  an  emerald. 

As  soon  as  he  hears  the  voice,  he  falls  into  an  ecstasy  (26), 
and  finds  himself  in  heaven.  Naturally  the  first  object  he 
beholds  is  God  upon  His  eternal  throne,  whose  form  is  not 
described,  yet  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  it  is  the  human 
form,  the  most  perfect  symbol  of  Him  in  whose  image  man 
was  created,  and  which  the  Lord  took  upon  Himself  in  His 
incarnation.  His  throne  is  the  symbol  of  His  sovereignty, 
power,  dominion,  and  His  being  seated  upon  it,  which  is  em- 
phasized by  repetition,  denotes  His  possession  of  all  govern- 
ment, and  that  it  costs  Him  no  effort,  but  is  maintained  and 
exercised  as  by  one  sitting  at  his  ease.  Moreover,  His  throne 
is  mentioned  12  times  in  this  vision,  and  12  is  the  number 
of  absoluteness  or  completeness,  to  and  from  which  noth- 
ing can  be  added  and  nothing  taken  away,  as  in  that  of  the 
patriarchs,  the  tribes,  the  apostles,  the  jewels  in  the  high 
priest's  breastplate,  the  foundation  stones,  gates,  and  pearls 
in  the  New  Jerusalem.  Very  great  stress  is  laid  upon  this 
idea  of  the  government  of  God  in  these  visions  and  through- 
out the  Scriptures.  To  the  dazzled  sight  of  the  Seer  God 
appears  like  a  jasper  stone  and  a  sardius  ;  by  the  former  of 
which,  there  is  good  reason  to  understand,  the  diamond  is 
meant,  •  ince  it  is  elsewhere  called  'the  most  precious  of  all 
stones'  (Rev.  xxi.  11);  which,  also,  as  being  the  most  incor- 


1 10  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YFSE 

ruptible  of  all  material  things,  and,  as  it  were,  essential  light, 
as  luminous  by  night  as  by  day,  is  the  best  symbol  that 
could  have  been  chosen  to  represent  the  incorruptible 
essence  and  essential  glory  of  'Him  who  is  light,  and  in 
Him  is  no  darkness  at  all'  (i  John  v.  6).  The  sardius  seems 
best  understood  as  a  soft-red  or  flesh-colored  stone,  by  which 
the  intense  brilliancy  of  the  diamond  is  mitigated,  in  order 
to  symbolize  the  human  and  compassionate  character  and 
tenderness  of  God.  It  was  the  first,  as  the  diamond  was  the 
last,  of  the  12  jewels  in  the  mystical  breastplate  of  the  high 
priest  (Ex.  xxviii.  17-20)  ;  which  seems  to  intimate  that  the 
human  element  of  the  divine  character  must  be  the  first  ob- 
ject of  our  knowledge,  and  that  it  is  only  through  this  that 
we  can  come  to  know  God  in  the  full  blaze  of  His  essential 
glory.  The  mention  here  of  the  first  and  last  of  these 
precious  stones  implies  the  whole  series,  which  represented 
the  infinitely  perfect  and  precious  nature  and  attributes  of 
God.  Upon  each  of  them,  moreover,  was  engraved  the  name 
of  one  of  the  12  tribes  of  Israel,  to  signify  that  they  were  in- 
separably identified  with  His  attributes  and  glory.  The 
symbolism  of  precious  stones,  however,  will  require  to  be 
more  fully  considered  when  we  come  to  the  foundations  of 
the  Golden  City.  In  fine,  the  rainbow  encircling  the  throne, 
in  which  the  green  of  the  emerald  is  predominant,  which,  as 
in  nature,  is  the  softest  of  all  colors  to  the  eye,  by  which  also 
its  powers  of  vision  are  healed  and  strengthened,  is  the  sym- 
bol of  God's  covenant  faithfulness  in  the  administration  of 
His  government  and  grace,  as  in  the  token  and  seal  of  His 
covenant  with  Noah,  that  the  earth  should  no  more  be  de- 
stroyed by  a  deluge  (Gen.  ix,  13-17). 

4  And  round  about  the  throne  were  four  and  twenty  thrones,  and 
seated  upon  the  thrones  [I  saw]  four  and  twenty  elders,  clothed  in 
white  robes,  and  crowns  of  gold  upon  their  heads. 

Among  all  the  diverse  interpretations  which  have  been 
given  of  this  obscure  symbol,  I  greatly  prefer  that  of  the 
American  editor  of  Lange's  Commentary,  namely,  thai  these 
throned  and  crowned  elders  represent  those  '  Thrones,  Domin- 


THE  CREA  TION  WORSHIPPING  THE  CREA  TOR       \  \  \ 

ions,  Principalities,  and  Powers'  of  which  St.  Paul  speaks 
(Col.  i.  i6),  i.  e.  the  angelic  powers  through  whom  God  ad- 
ministers, to  a  certain  extent  at  least.  His  government  of  the 
universe.  For  this  interpretation  seems  best  to  harmonize 
with  all  that  is  said  about  them,  and  it  is  confirmed  by  a  pas- 
sage in  one  of  the  prophets,  where  such  angelic  natures  are 
called  'ancients,'  or  elders  (Is.  xxiv.  23).  Accordingly  they 
have  crowns  upon  their  heads,  and  sit  on  thrones  in  the  inmost 
circle  around  the  central  throne  (109},  to  denote  that  next 
under  God  they  exercise  the  functions  of  government ;  their 
crowns  are  of  gold,  to  signify  the  excellence  and  precious- 
ness  of  their  governmental  ministry  (33)  ;  they  are  clothed  in 
white  robes,  to  represent  their  sinless  purity,  and  their  vic- 
tory over  temptation  (85),  when  the  angels  *  who  kept  not 
their  own  government '  fell  from  heaven  (Jude  6).  There 
are  24  or  twice  twelve  of  them,  in  allusion  to  the  12  patri- 
archs and  the  12  apostles,  the  spiritual  princes  of  the  Lord's 
kingdom,  things  on  earth  being  taken  as  representative  of 
things  in  heaven,  to  denote  the  completeness  of  their  number 
and  functions  (109). 

5  And  out  of  the  throne  go  forth  lightnings  and  voices  and  thun- 
ders ;  and  before  the  throne  seven  lamps  of  fire  are  burning,  which 
are  the  seven  Spirits  of  God  : 

Lightning  is  'the  fire  of  God  '  (Job  i.  16),  thunder  is  '  the 
voice  of  the  Almighty'  (xxxvii.  51),  and  these  'voices  '  may 
be  taken  as,  in  some  sort,  interpretative  of  the  other  two,  to 
signify  that  by  them  God  speaks  an  intelligible  language  to 
His  intelligent  creatures.  As  proceeding  from  His  throne, 
and  in  consideration  of  other  passages  where  they  are  intro- 
duced (Rev.  viii.  5;  xvi.  18),  I  think  they  should  be  under- 
stood as  representing  the  forces  of  nature  in  general;  for 
these  forces  are  not  to  be  conceived  of  as  the  properties  of 
matter,  nor  as  entities  in  themselves,  but  as  the  intelligent 
energy  of  the  divine  will.*  In  fact,  this  conception  of  them 
underlies  all  the  personifications  of  poetry,  which  is  often 
more   philosophical    than    philosophy,    and    it   is    of    great 


*  See  Wisdom  0/  Holy  Scripture^  i. 


112  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

importance  to  the  right  understanding  of  the  mysteries  both 
of  nature  and  of  grace.  With  respect  to  these  Mamps,'  we 
have  here  another  instance  in  which  symbols  of  fundamental 
significance  are  authoritatively  interpreted  for  us  (40),  these 
as  representing  '  the  seven  Spirits  of  God,'  i.  e.  as  we  have 
seen,  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  unity  of  His  personality  and  ful- 
ness of  His  manifold  operations  (14).  Thus  also  He  was  sym- 
bolized in  the  seven-branched  candelabrum  which  stood 
before  the  veil  of  the  Holy  of  Holies  in  the  tabernacle,  with- 
in which  was  the  shekinah,  or  luminous  presence  of  God,  as 
here  these  lamps  stand  '  before  '  the  throne,  in  allusion  to 
the  mysterious  distinction  between  God  and  His  Spirit  (14). 
The  lamps  are  perpetually  burning,  to  signify  that  He  is  the 
unfailing  source  of  spiritual  light,  both  as  the  inspirer  of  the 
divine  word,  which  'men  spoke  from  God,  being  moved  by 
the  Holy  Spirit'  (2  Pet.  i.  21),  and  as  the  interior  enlightener 
of  human  souls. 

6  And  before  the  throne,  as  it  were  a  glassy  sea  like  unto  crystal. 

This  glassy  sea,  notwithstanding  its  crystalline  transpar- 
ency, is  anything  but  a  transparent  symbol.  It  will  occur 
hereafter  mingled  with  fire  (Rev.  xv.  2),  as  something  through 
which  the  saved  have  passed,  and  on  the  shore  of  which  they 
stand  with  the  harps  of  God  in  their  hands.  The  sea,  how- 
ever, without  any  qualifying  word,  both  in  these  visions  and 
elsewhere,  is  the  well-recognized  symbol  of  national  life  in 
its  stormy  perturbations  and  surging  violence,  of  which  we 
shall  have  abundant  evidence  in  the  sequel.  Here,  being  as 
smooth  as  glass  and  transparent  as  crystal,  it  lies  spread  out 
to  an  infinite  distance,  as  I  think  we  must  conceive  of  it, 
before  the  throne  of  God.  Taking  all  these  things  into  con- 
sideration, I  suggest  that  it  is  intended  to  symbolize  humr.n 
life  in  general,  especially  in  its  relations  to  the  divine  provi- 
dence, as  having  subdued  its  stormy  agitations  to  a  state  of 
perfect  peace  and  serenity.  Thus  interpreted,  the  sea,  by  its 
crystalline  transparency,  represents  that  the  life  of  mankind, 
which  from  the  earthly  point  of  view  is  an  unfathomable 
ocean,  altogether  opaque  and   incomprehensible   to  human 


THE  CREATION  WORSHIPPING  THE  CREATOR       113 

wisdom,  is,  from  the  heavenly  standpoint  of  the  Seer  (109), 
transparent  as  crystal,  a  solved  mystery.  Thus,  also,  the 
symbol  constitutes  a  prophecy  of  what  shall  be  hereafter, 
when  the  Lord  shall  have  fully  established  His  kingdom  on 
earth,  and  all  the  nations  shall  have  submitted  themselves  to 
His  peaceful  reign. 

6  And  in  the  midst  of  the  throne,  and  round  about  the  throne,  are 
four  living  creatures,  full  of  eyes  before  and  behind  :  7  and  the  first 
living  creature  is  like  unto  a  lion  ;  and  the  second  Jiving  creature  is  like 
unto  a  bullock;  and  the  third  living  creature  hath  the  face  of  a  man  ; 
and  the  fourth  living  creature  is  like  unto  a  flying  eagle  :  8  and  the 
four  living  creatures  have  each  six  wings  :  all  around  and  w^ithin  they 
are  full  of  eyes ;  and  they  cease  not  by  day  or  by  night,  saying,  Holy, 
holy,  holy  Lord  God  Almighty,  who  was,  and  who  is,  and  who  is  to 
come. 

Here  also  we  naturally  have  an  almost  endless  diversity  of 
interpretations,  though  it  seems  plain  enough  that  this  won- 
derful symbol  must  be  understood  as  a  representation  of  the 
wisdom  and  power  of  God  in  nature,  and,  hence,  of  nature 
itself,  but  with  special  reference  to  living  creatures,  in  which 
these  divine  attributes  are  most  conspicuously  manifested. 
It  is  very  difficult,  however,  to  form  a  distinct  mental  picture 
of  that  which  was  presented  to  the  eye  of  the  Seer,  for  how 
could  these  creatures  be  seen  'in  the  midst  of  the  throne  ' 
and  'round  about  the  throne,'  at  the  same  time?  Many 
attempts  have  been  made  to  solve  this  difficulty,  which  is 
one  of  very  rare  occurrence  in  these  visions,  where  the  dis- 
tinctness of  the  imagery  and  word-painting  is  absolutely  un- 
rivaled; but  after  having  examined  most  of  them,  I  am  still 
unable  to  form  a  clear  conception  of  what  is  here  described. 
Hence  I  am  disposed  to  take  the  words,  'in  the  midst  of  the 
throne,'  in  a  highly  figurative  sense,  to  denote  (i)  that  what 
the  creatures  represent  is  something  in  God,  i.  e.  His  wisdom 
and  power  as  manifested  in  nature;  (2)  that  the  ideas  of  all 
mundane  creatures  are  eternally  in  His  mind:  whilst  the 
forms  in  which  they  are  realized  are  distinct  from  Him,  and 
encircle  His  throne;  for  thus  the  true  and  Scriptural  relations 
of  the  creation  to  the   Creator  would  be  admirably  repre- 


114 


WISDOM  OF  THE  A  FOCAL  YFSE 


sented.  The  creatures  are  four  in  number  in  order  to  repre- 
sent nature  in  its  grand  totality,  since  four,  in  the  Scriptural 
language  of  symbols,  signifies  the  whole  world,  with  refer- 
ence to  its  four  quarters,  as  in  the  words  of  the  Lord:  "  They 
shall  come  from  the  east  and  west,  and  from  the  north  and 
south,  and  shall  sit  down  in  the  kingdom  of  God  "  (Luke  xiii. 
29).  They  are  called  8,c5oi'  and  8.(^(y,  from  which  we  have 
zoology,  the  science  of  living  creatures,  to  denote  that  the 
powers  of  nature  are  essentially  vital  forces,  which  attain  to 
their  crowning  results  in  organized  beings.  All  such  beings 
are  here  represented  in  four  vast  generalizations,  not,  indeed, 
those  of  modern  science,  which  would  have  been  unintel- 
ligible at  the  time,  and  no  less  at  this  day  to  all  but  scientists, 
but  in  popular  language  which  all  can  understand;  and  each 
of  these  classes  is  represented  by  the  noblest  of  its  kind. 
The  first  is  that  of  the  beasts  of  prey,  the  creature  like  a 
lion;  the  second,  that  of  the  domesticated  and  useful  ani- 
mals, the  creature  like  a  bullock;  the  third,  that  of  human 
beings  regarded  simply  as  a  part  of  creation  or  nature,  the 
creature  with  the  face  of  a  man;  the  fourth,  that  of  birds, 
the  creature  like  a  flying  eagle.  Taken  together,  they  may 
represent  the  kind  of  service  which  is  most  acceptable  to 
God,  namely,  that  of  courage  and  strength,  docility  and  use- 
fulness, intelligence,  clearness  of  vision,  and  high  aims. 
INIoreover,  each  of  these  symbolical  creatures  has  six  wings, 
which  identifies  them,  at  least  in  part,  with  the  seraphim  in 
Isaiah's  vision,  which  has  been  referred  to  (108);  and  the 
burden  of  their  song,  with  which  they  unceasingly  celebrate 
the  holiness  of  God,  as  well  as  the  general  meaning  of  both 
visions,  is  nearly  the  same;  as  such,  therefore,  we  may  regard 
the  position  of  their  wings.  With  twain  they  cover  their 
faces  to  express  their  humility,  reverence,  as  being  unworthy 
to  look  upon  the  splendors  of  the  divine  holiness:  with  twain 
they  cover  their  feet,  all  the  lower  and  least  honorable  parts 
of  their  bodies,  as  unworthy  to  appear  in  the  presence  of 
the  Holy  One:  and  with  twain,  expanded  and  quivering  as 
for  flight,  they  signify  their  eagerness  to  execute  His  holy 
commands.     Moreover,  'around  and  within,  before  and  be- 


THE  CREATION  WORSHIPPING  THE  CREATOR       115 

hind,'  i.  e.  all  over  their  bodies,  even  under  their  wings, 
'they  are  full  of  eyes';  which  vividly  represents  that  intelli- 
gence, knowledge,  wisdom,  of  which  the  eye  is  the  ever- 
recurring  symbol  {z^),  and  which  pervades  the  whole  crea- 
tion, but  which  is  most  conspicuously  manifested  in  organic 
nature.  For  since  the  natural  forces  are  the  intelligent 
energy  of  the  divine  will,  we  can  say,  with  hardly  a  figure  of 
speech,  that  the  eye  knows  how  to  see,  the  ear  to  hear,  thd 
stomach  to  digest  its  food,  what  to  appropriate  and  what  to 
reject;  and  so  of  all  the  other  organs,  functions,  and  opera- 
tions of  the  vital  forces  in  nature;  nor  in  these  alone,  but 
also  in  all  the  manifold  correlations  and  adaptations  of  part 
to  part  and  of  means  to  ends  we  see  intelligence  and  wisdom 
which  are  unmistakably  divine:  all  which  is  here  symbolized 
in  the  most  picturesque  and  expressive  manner  by  these  life- 
forms  covered  all  over  with  eyes.  In  fine,  the  only  differ- 
ence between  the  song  of  these  seraphim  and  that  of  Isaiah's 
vision  is,  that  for  '  the  Lord  of  hosts  '  and  '  the  v;hole  earth 
is  full  of  His  glory  '  there,  we  have  here  '  Lord  God  Almighty 
(23),  who  was,  and  who  is,  and  who  is  to  come.'  The 
leading  ideas  are  the  same  in  both,  namely,  that  nature  is 
one  blazing  manifestation  of  the  divine  perfections,  and  is 
never  weary  in  celebrating  above  all  the  divine  holiness. 

9  And  when  the  living  creatures  shall  give  glory  and  honor  and 
thanks  unto  Him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  unto  Him  that  liveth 
forever  and  ever,  10  the  four  and  twenty  elders  shall  fall  down  before 
Him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  shall  worship  Him  that  liveth 
forever  and  ever,  and  shall  cast  their  crowns  before  the  throne,  saying, 
II  Worthy  art  thou,  O  Lord  and  our  God,  to  receive  the  glory  and  the 
honor  and  the  power,  for  thou  hast  created  all  things,  and  by  reason 
of  thy  will  they  were,  and  were  created. 

The  peculiar  forms  of  expression  here  are  probably  to  be 
understood  as  if  it  were  said.  It  is  ordained  that  they  '  shall 
give'  and  'shall  fall  down'  and  'shall  worship,'  with  ref- 
erence to  the  unceasing  repetition  of  these  acts.  The  fall- 
in_^  down  of  the  elders  from  their  thrones  expresses  the 
profound  and  intense  character  of  their  worship,  and  their 
casting  their  crowns  before  the  throne  of  God  signifies  that 


Il6  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

they  hold  all  their  dignities  and  authority  from  Him.  There 
is  a  manuscript  variation,  however,  in  the  words  of  their 
song,  for  in  some  authorities  it  reads,  '  by  reason  of  thy  will 
they  were  not,  and  were  created.'  If  this  be  adopted,  the 
meaning  is,  because  God  so  willed  it  there  was  for  a  time  no 
creation,  and  afterwards,  because  He  so  willed  it,  all  things 
were  created.  If  the  reading  in  the  text  be  retained,  it  may 
mean,  because  He  so  willed  it  all  things  became  existent, 
and  were  truly  and  properly  created,  in  distinction  from  the 
idea  of  emanation  and  all  pantheistic  conceptions.  Thus,  in 
fine,  the  angelic  host,  as  represented  by  their  Thrones  and 
Dominions,  respond  to  the  glory  and  honor  and  thanks  which 
the  mundane  creation  offers  to  God,  because  they  see  in  it 
His  worthiness  to  be  thus  honored  and  praised,  and  because 
He  is  also  their  God  and  Creator. 

Such  is  the  universe,  as  it  was  unveiled  and  presented  to 
the  illumined  eyes  of  St.  John  what  time  he  was  'in  the 
Spirit '  (28),  and  his  point  of  view  was  in  heaven.  Here,  then, 
he  gives  us  to  see  God  upon  His  eternal  throne,  over-arched  by 
the  rainbow  of  His  covenant  faithfulness  ;  surrounded  by  the 
throned  and  crowned  princes  of  the  heavenly  host  ;  in  His 
immediate  presence  the  seven  burning  lamps  of  His  Holy 
Spirit ;  spread  out  before  Him  in  infinite  extent  the  sea  of 
human  life,  no  longer  agitated  by  the  storms  of  sinful  pas- 
sion, but  by  His  providence  having  become  sm.ooth  as  glass 
and  transparent  as  crystal ;  the  forces  of  nature  going  forth 
out  of  His  throne  as  the  intelligent  energy  of  His  will  ; 
around  Him  all  His  works  of  the  mundane  creation,  blazing 
with  the  evidences  of  His  knowledge  and  wisdom  ;  and  all 
His  creatures  throughout  the  universe  unceasingly  engaged 
in  celebrating  His  wisdom,  power,  sovereignty,  and  holiness, 
as  manifested  in  their  creation.  Thus  also  all  creatures  were 
seen  by  the  illumined  eyes  of  the  Psalmist,  when  he  called 
them  to  unite  their  voices  in  praise  of  their  Creator  : 

Praise  ye  the  Lord  from  the  heavens  ; 
Praise  Him  from  the  heights. 
Praise  ye  Him,  all  His  angels  ; 
Praise  ye  Him,  all  His  host. 


THE  CREATION  WORSHIPPING  THE  CREATOR       117 

Praise  ye  Him,  sun  and  moon ; 

Praise  Him,  all  ye  stars  of  light. 

Praise  Him,  ye  heavens  of  heavens, 

And  ye  waters  that  be  above  the  heavens  : 

Let  them  praise  the  name  of  the  Lord. 

For  He  commanded,  and  they  were  created  ; 

He  hath  also  established  them  forever  and  ever  ; 

He  hath  made  a  decree  which  shall  not  pass  away. 

Praise  the  Lord  from  the  earth. 

Ye  dragons  and  all  deeps  ; 

Fire  and  hail,  snow  and  vapor. 

Stormy  wind  fulfilling  His  word  ; 

Mountains  and  all  hills. 

Fruitful  trees  and  all  cedars  ; 

Beasts  and  all  cattle. 

Creeping  things  and  flying  fowl ; 

Kings  of  the  earth  and  all  peoples, 

Princes  and  all  judges  of  the  earth  ; 

Both  young  men  and  maidens. 

Old  men  and  children  : 

Let  them  praise  the  name  of  the  Lord  ; 

For  His  name  alone  is  exalted  ; 

His  glory  is  above  the  earth  and  the  heaven  (Ps.  cxlviii.). 

Thus  it  is  for  all  human  beings  with  willing  minds  to 
unite  in  this  grand  chorus  of  praise.  For  there  are  two  ways 
in  which  God  is  glorified:  one,  as  He  is  loved  and  obeyed' 
by  angels  and  men  who  believe  in  Him  as  their  Creator,  and 
give  themselves  to  do  His  will,  to  keep  all  His  command- 
ments and  ordinances:  the  other,  that  of  the  unbelieving 
and  disobedient,  men  and  angels,  who  do  not  worship  Him 
as  their  Creator;  who  are  proud,  trusting  in  their  own  wis-. 
dom  to  discern  between  good  and  evil,  self-willed,  and 
delighting  in  self-glorification.  These  also  glorify  God, 
though  they  do  not  mean  it.  Unwillingly  they  are  made  the 
instruments  of  accomplishing  His  holy  purposes,  for 

Surely  the  wrath  of  man  shall  praise  thee. 

And  the  residue  of  wrath  wilt  thou  restrain  (Ps.  Ixxvi.  10). 

God  glorifies  Himself  by  punishing  all  such  as  they  deserve. 
His  eternal  justice,  which  is  'the  foundation  of  His  throne' 
(Ps.  xcvii.  2),  is  glorified  in  them.  And  it  is  for  every  one  of 
us  freely  to  choose  for  himself  in  which  of  these  two  ways  he 
will  glorify  his  Maker.  Let  us  choose  the  better  way,  that 
our  salvation  may  be  to  the  praise  of  His  grace. 


XIII 

VISION   OF   CHRIST   ENTERING   UPON   HIS   MEDIATORIAL  " 
GOVERNMENT      V  I-14 

In  the  former  scene  of  this  sublime  vision,  we  beheld  the 
^created  universe  worshipping  the  Creator;  and  here  it  is 
presented  to  our  view  engaged  in  the  worship  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  under  the  symbol  of  a  lamb  that  has  been  slain 
in  sacrifice.  The  grounds  of  this  worship  are,  that  He  has 
redeemed  unto  God  a  people  out  of  the  world,  and  thereby 
has  acquired  power  to  open  the  seven-sealed  book  of  the 
divine  purposes  and  providence;  which  book  He  now  takes 
out  of  the  right  hand  of  Him  who  sits  upon  the  throne  to 
signify  His  entrance  upon  His  mediatorial  government  of 
the  world. 

I  And  I  saw  in  the  right  hand  of  Him  who  sat  upon  the  throne  a 
book  written  within  and  on  the  back,  and  sealed  down  with  seven 
seals. 

This  book,  or  roll,  is  recognized  by  all  the  commentators  as 
the  symbol  of  God's  purposes,  providence,  and  government. 
It  is  in,  or  lies  upon.  His  *  right  hand,'  to  signify  that  His 
providence  is  directed.  His  government  exercised,  and  His 
purposes  executed,  by  His  wisdom  and  power  for  the  deliver- 
ance and  salvation  of  His  people  (39).  It  is  sevenfold,  to 
denote  the  unity,  fulness,  and  perfection  of  its  contents  (14). 
It  is  '  written  v/ithin  and  on  the  back,'  i.  e.  on  both  sides  of  its 
leaves,  to  denote  that  it  includes  ample  particulars  of  the 
world's  history.  It  is  sealed  down,  or,  as  we  sho-uld  say, 
sealed  up,  with  seven  seals,  to  signify  that  the  purposes  and 
providence  of  God  are  secret  things,  which  no  created  mind 
can  penetrate  or  comprehend  until  they  are  revealed.  In 
(118) 


CHRIST  ENTERING  UPON  HIS  GOVERNMENT        i  iq 

this  last  particular,  it  reminds  us  also  of  the  following  :  "  O 
Daniel,  shut  up  the  words,  and  seal  the  book,  even  to  the 
time  of  the  end.  .  .  .  The  words  are  shut  up  and  sealed  till 
the  time  of  the  end  "  (Dan.  xii.  4-9).  For  by  this  allusion 
we  are  given  to  understand  that  the  Apocalypse  is,  in  some 
sort,  a  continuation  of  the  prophecies  of  Daniel  (2),  and  that 
what  he  was  commanded  to  leave  sealed  up  is  here  laid  open; 
as,  in  general,  that  which  was  veiled  in  the  Old  Testament 
is  unveiled  in  the  New:  for  the  veil  which  hung  before  the 
Holy  of  Holies  '  was  rent  in  twain  from  the  top  to  the 
bottom'  when  the  Lord  was  crucified  (Mat.  xxvii.  51). 

2  And  I  saw  a  mighty  angel  proclaiming  with  a  great  voice,  Who 
is  w^orthy  to  open  the  book,  and  to  loose  the  seals  thereof?  3  And 
no  one  in  heaven,  nor  upon  earth,  nor  under  the  earth,  was  able  to 
open  the  book,  nor  to  look  upon  it. 

This  is  a  '  mighty '  angel  that  his  voice  may  be  loud 
enough  to  be  heard  throughout  the  universe.  But  there  is 
no  response  to  his  proclamation,  for  there  is  no  one  in  any  of 
the  three  worlds,  in  heaven,  on  earth,  nor  '  under  the  earth,' 
i.  e.  in  Hades  (40),  who  can  open  the  book  so  as  to  look  upon 
its  pages:  which  emphasizes  the  significance  of  its  seven 
seals,  for  the  providence  of  God  to  all  creature-wisdom  is 
an  insoluble  senigma. 

4  And  I  -wept  much  because  no  one  was  found  worthy  to  open  the 
book,  nor  to  look  upon  it.  5  And  one  of  the  elders  saith  unto  me, 
Weep  not:  behold,  the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  the  Root  of  David, 
hath  prevailed  to  open  the  book,  and  to  loose  the  seven  seals  thereof. 

The  Seer  has  been  promised  that  some,  at  least,  of  the 
secret  purposes  of  God  shall  be  disclosed  to  him,  and  now 
that  no  one  is  able  to  unseal  the  book  in  which  they  are 
written  he  is  grievously  disappointed;  but  he  is  soon  com- 
forted by  one  of  the  elders,  who  assures  him  that  the  Lion  of 
Judah  and  Root  of  David  has  prevailed  to  loose  its  seals. 
The  fact,  that  one  of  these  throned  and  crowned  elders  con- 
soles the  weeping  Seer,  is  an  indication  that  the  holy  angels 
feel  a  deep  sympathy  with  redeemed  souls  in  their  desire  to 
become    acquainted    with    the    counsels    of    God:     "Which 


1 20  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

things  angels  desire  to  look  into  '  (i  Pet.  i.  12).  *  The  Lion 
of  the  tribe  of  Judah  '  is,  of  course,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  so 
called  with  reference  to  His  genealogical  connection  with 
that  tribe,  and  to  His  all-conquering  power,  as  also  to  the 
death-bed  prophecy  of  His  great  forefather  : 

Judah  is  a  lion's  whelp  ; 

From  the  prey,  my  son,  thou  art  gone  up  : 

He  stooped  down,  he  couched  as  a  lion, 

And  as  a  lioness ;  who  shall  rouse  him  up  ?    (Gen.  xlix.  9.) 

In  consequence  of  this  prophecy,  the  lion  became  the  received 
emblem  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  and  was  emblazoned,  it  is  said, 
upon  its  military  standards.  He  is  called  also  '  the  Root  of 
David,'  with  reference  both  to  His  being  the  representative 
of  the  tribe  from  which  David  came  and  to  His  lineal 
descent  from  the  great  conquering  king  of  Israel,  as  in  the 
following  prophecies  : 

And  there  shall  come  forth  a  shoot  out  of  the  stock  of  Jesse, 

And  a  branch  out  of  his  roots  shall  bear  fruit  (Is.  xi.  i). 

I  will  raise  unto  David  a  righteous  Branch, 

And  He  shall  reign  as  a  king  and  prosper, 

And  thall  execute  judgment  and  justice  in  the  land  (Jer.  xxiii.  5). 

The  words,  '  hath  prevailed,'  or  conquered,  denote  simply 
that  He  has  acquired  the  authority  and  power  to  open  the 
book,  whereby  He  solves  the  aenigma  of  the  divine  provi- 
dence. 

6  And  I  saw  in  the  midst  of  the  throne,  and  of  the  four  living  crea- 
tures, and  in  the  midst  of  the  elders  a  lamb  standing  as  it  had  been 
slain  in  sacrifice,  having  seven  horns  and  seven  eyes,  which  are  the 
seven  Spirits  of  God,  sent  forth  into  all  the  earth. 

The  figures  of  the  lion  and  the  root  are  now  dropped,  and 
we  see  a  lamb,  a  symbol  of  Christ  which  occurs  2^  times  \n^y 
this  book,  and  runs  through  all  the  subsequent  visions  :  nor 
can  it  be  without  significance  that  here  and  elsewhere  He  is 
symbolized  both  as  a  lion  and  a  lamb,  creatures  as  remote 
and  hostile  to  each  other  as  possible.  It  may  denote  that 
the  whole  creation,  having  been  brought  by  sin  into  conflict 
with  itself,  is  reconciled  and  restored  to  unity  in  Him,  as 
foreshadowed  in  many  prophecies  • 


CHRIST  ENTERING  UPON  HIS  GOVERNMENT        12 1 

The  wolf  shall  dwell  with  the  lartib, 

And  the  leopard  shall  lie  down  with  the  kid, 

And  the  calf  and  the  young  lion  and  the  fatling  together  ; 

And  a  little  child  shall  lead  them  (Is.  xi.  6). 

Here  the  lamb  stands  as  it  had  been  'slain  in  sacrifice,'  for 
that  is  the  precise  meaning  of  the  word  rendered  'slain  '  in 
the  English  Bible.  Thus,  and  wherever  this  symbol  occurs, 
we  have  represented  the  most  fundamental  truth  of  the  gos- 
pel, in  allusion  to  the  Paschal  lamb,  and  all  the  bloody  sacri- 
fices of  the  ritual  law  ;  the  truth  which  is  so  powerfully  sym- 
bolized also  in  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  namely, 
His  atoning  death,  His  most  holy  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the 
world  :  "  For  our  Passover  also  hath  been  sacrificed,  [even] 
Christ  (i  Cor.  v.  7).  Ye  have  been  redeemed  .  .  with  the 
precious  blood  of  Christ,  as  of  a  lamb  without  blemish  and 
without  spot  (i  Pet.  i.  19).  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  that 
beareth  the  sin  of  the  world  (John  i.  29): 

Surely  He  hath  borne  our  griefs  and  carried  our  sorrows  ; 

Yet  we  did  esteem  Him  stricken,  smiUen  of  God,  and  afOicted. 

But  He  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions  ; 

He  was  bruised  for  our  iniquities  : 

The  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon  Him  ; 

And  with  His  stripes  we  are  healed. 

AU  we  like  sheep  have  gone  astray  ; 

We  have  turned  every  one  to  his  own  way ; 

And  the  Lord  hath  laid  upon  Him  the  iniquity  of  us  all. 

He  was  oppressed, 

Yet  He  humbled  Himself,  and  opened  not  His  mouth  : 

As  a  lamb  that  is  led  to  the  slaughter, 

And  as  a  sheep  that  before  her  shearers  is  dumb  ; 

Yea,  He  opened  not  His  mouth  (Is.  liii.). 

This  lamb,  moreover,  has  *  seven  horns  and  seven  eyes, 
which  are  the  seven  Spirits  of  God,'  which  signifies  that 
Christ  is  possessed  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  with  all  fulness  of 
power  and  wisdom,  the  eye  being  the  symbol  of  knowledge 
and  wisdom  (115),  the  horn  of  power,  and  seven  of  fulness 
or  perfection  (14):  "For  He  giveth  not  the  Spirit  by 
me-'sure  [unto  Him]  (John  iii.  34)  : 

And  tlie  Spirit  of  the  Lord  will  rest  upon  Him, 
The  Spirit  of  wisdom  and  understanding, 

6 


122  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

The  Spirit  of  counsel  and  might, 

The  Spirit  of  knowledge  and  the  fear  of  the  Lord  "  (Is.  xi.  2). 

These  seven  Spirits  are  said  to  be  '  sent  forth  into  all  the 
earth,'  in  allusion  to  the  words  of  the  prophet :  "  These  seven, 
the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  they  run  to  and  fro  in  the  whole  earth  " 
(Zech.  iv.  10)  ;  and  to  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  upon  'all 
flesh  '  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  (Acts  ii.  17),  as  elsewhere  also 
it  is  declared  that  '  the  manifestation  of  the  Spirit  is  given 
to  every  man  to  profit  withal '  (i  Cor.  xii.  7)  :  for  it  is  by  this 
universal  presence  and  influence  of  His  Spirit  that  the  Lord 
accomplishes  all  His  purposes  of  grace  and  salvation.  The 
Lamb  is  seen  in  the  midst  of  the  throne  and  of  the  living 
creatures  and  of  the  elders  to  signify  that  He  is  one  with 
God  and  the  centre  of  the  universe. 

7  And  He  came  and  took  it  out  of  the  right  hand  of  Him  who  sat 
upon  the  throne. 

He  takes  the  book  out  of  the  hand  of  God  that  He  may 
open  its  seals  and  make  known  its  contents  ;  also,  to  signify 
His  entrance  upon  the  mediatorial  government  of  the  world, 
that  He  may  carry  into  execution  the  divine  purposes  con- 
cerning grace,  redemption,  and  judgment.  This  transaction 
in  the  spiritual  world  is  represented  in  a  multitude  of  Scrip- 
tures, such  as  the  following  :  "  One  like  unto  the  Son  of  Man 
.  .  .  came  even  to  the  Ancient  of  days,  and  they  brought 
Him  near  before  Him  ;  and  there  was  given  unto  Him  do- 
minion and  glory  and  a  kingdom  (Dan,  vii.  13-14),  The 
Father  judgeth  no  man,  but  all  judgment  He  hath  commit- 
ted unto  the  Son  (John  v.  22).  He  hath  put  all  things  under 
His  feet  (i  Cor.  xv.  27)  : 

Yet  have  I  set  my  King 

Upon  my  holy  hill  of  Zion.  .  , 

Ask  of  me,  and  I  will  give  thee 

The  nations  for  thine  inheritance, 

And  the  utterm  jst  parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  possession  (Ps.  ii.  6-8). 

It  is  thus  that  the  Father  commits  to  the  Son,  and  the  Son 
takes  upon  Himself,  the  mediatorial  government  of  the  world, 
and  becomes  the  administrative  head  of  the  whole  scheme  of 


CHRIST  ENTERING  UPON  HIS  GOVERNMENT 


123 


divine  providence.  Hence  it  is  that  He  alone  is  able  to  loose 
the  seals  of  this  seven-sealed  book.  We  shall  find  this  inter- 
pretation of  the  symbol  abundantly  confirmed  and  illustrated 
in  the  sequel. 

8  And  when  He  took  the  book,  the  four  living  creatures  and  the 
four  and  twenty  elders  fell  down  before  the  Lamb,  having  each  a  harp, 
and  golden  chalices  full  of  incense,  which  are  the  prayers  of  the  saints. 

These  life-forms  fall  down  before  the  Lamb  to  denote 
that  the  whole  mundane  creation  (113)  takes  part  in  His 
worship  at  His  entrance  upon  His  mediatorial  government, 
as  being  incidentally  a  partaker  of  its  benefits  :  "  For  .  . 
the  creature  itself  also  shall  be  delivered  from  the  bond- 
age of  corruption  into  the  liberty  of  the  glory  of  the 
children  of  God"  (Rom.  viii.  19-21).  The  24  elders  also  fall 
from  their  thrones  before  Him  to  signify  that  the  holy 
angels,  as  represented  by  their  princes  (m),  join  in  His  wor- 
ship, He  having  now  become  their  Lord,  as  it  is  written  : 
"When  He  bringeth  His  first  begotten  into  the  world,  He 
saith,  And  let  all  the  angels  of  God  worship  Him  "  (Heb.  i. 
6).  But  here  we  have  mysteries  alluded  to  which  we  very 
imperfectly  comprehend  ;  for  these  angelic  princes,  besides 
harps,  the  instrument  and  symbol  of  festive  praise,  have 
golden  bowls  or  chalices  (not  'vials,'  as  in  the  English  Bible) 
full  of  incense,  'which  are  the  prayers  of  the  saints,'  i.e. 
they  represent  these  prayers  as  rendered  acceptable  and 
efficacious  by  the  mediation  of  Christ.  Where  did  the 
elders  get  them  ?  and  what  do  they  do  with  them  ?  Do 
they  offer  them  to  the  Lamb  as  the  most  acceptable  of  all 
offerings  ?  Is  this  a  part  of  the  ministry  of  angels,  of  whom 
it  is  written:  "Are  they  not  all  ministering  spirits  sent  forth 
unto  service  for  those  who  shall  be  the  heirs  of  salvation  ? " 
(Heb.  i.  14).  Upon  these  questions,  as  also  upon  the  mean- 
ing of  this  incense,  we  shall  have  further  light  hereafter 
(Rev.  viii.  3-5).  Meanwhile,  this  much  is  plain,  that  the 
prayers  of  the  saints  are  so  precious  to  the  Lord  that  they  can 
be  fitly  represented  by  golden  chalices  full  of  the  costliest  in- 
cense offered  unto   Him  with  the  music  of  celestial  harps 


124 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YFSE 


by  the  throned  and  crowned  princes  of  the  unfallen  spiritual 
world. 

9  And  they  sin^  a  new  song,  saying,  Worthy  art  thou  to  take  the 
book,  and  to  open  the  seals  thereof;  for  thou  wast  slain  in  sacrifice, 
and  hast  redeemed  unto  God  w^ith  thy  blood  out  of  every  tribe  and 
tongue  and  people  and  nation  ;  lo  and  hast  made  them  a  kingdom  and 
priests  unto  our  God,  and  they  reign  over  the  earth. 

The  living  creatures  and  the  elders  sing  this  song  of  praise 
to  the  Lamb,  and  it  is  'a  new  song'  in  that  it  celebrates  the 
opening  of  the  new  dispensation  by  His  entrance  upon  His 
mediatorial  reign  in  reward  of  His  atoning  sacrifice  :  "  He 
humbled  Himself,  becoming  obedient  unto  death,  even  the 
death  of  the  cross  :  wlierefore  also  God  hath  highly  exalted 
Him,  and  given  Him  the  name  which  is  above  every  name  ; 
that  at  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should  bow,  of  things 
in  heaven,  and  things  on  earth,  and  things  under  the  earth  ; 
and  that  every  tongue  should  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father"  (Phil.  ii.  8-11).  By 
an  error  in  the  very  imperfect  Greek  text  from  which  the 
common  English  translation  was  made,  the  elders  and  living 
creatures  are  made  to  say,  'hast  redeemed  us  ';  which  repre- 
sents the  angels  and  nature  as  having  been  redeemed  by  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb  ;  whereas  this  redemption  properly 
applies  only  to  men  or  individuals  'out  of  all  nations,  this 
universality  being  symbolized  by  the  four  particulars  enu- 
merated (114).  Those  who  are  thus  redeemed  are  made  a 
kingdom  and  priests  (16)  unto  Him  who  is  the  God  of 
angels  and  men  and  nature  alike;  'and  they  reign  over  the 
earth,'  in  the  prophetic  present  tense,  to  express  the  most 
perfect  certainty  and  vivid  realization  of  what  shall  be  here- 
after. 

II  And  I  saw,  and  I  heard  the  voice  of  many  angels  round  about 
the  throne,  and  of  the  living  creatures,  and  of  the  elders  ;  and  the 
number  of  them  was  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  and  thousands 
of  thousands;  12  saying,  with  a  great  voice,  Worthy  is  the  Lamb 
that  hath  been  slain  in  sacrifice  to  take  the  power  and  riches  and  wis- 
dom and  might  and  honor  and  glory  and  blessing. 

The  word  'take'  here  reminds  us  that  the  Lamb  has  just 
taken  the  book  out  of  the  hand  of  Him  who  sits  upon  the 


CHRIST  ENTERING  UPON  HIS  GOVERNMENT        125 

throne,  and  therewith  the  glory  of  opening  its  seals,  and  of 
carrying  its  decrees  into  execution.  Thus  also  we  are  given 
to  see  and  hear  the  'innumerable  company  of  angels'  (Heb. 
xii.  22)  who  stand  in  an  outer  circle  around  their  Thrones 
and  Dominions,  as  they  respond  to  the  song  they  have  just 
heard  with  a  sevenfold  (14)  ascription  of  praise  to  the  Lamb, 
because  they  are  all  partakers  of  beneficial  consequences 
from  His  redemptive  work,  and  it  sets  Him  over  them  as 
their  Lord  (123). 

13  And  every  creature  that  is  in  heaven  and  on  earth  and  under 
the  earth  and  on  the  sea,  and  the  things  that  are  in  them,  all  heard  I 
saying,  Unto  Him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb, 
be  the  blessing  and  the  honor  and  the  glory  and  the  might  forever  and 
ever.  14  And  the  four  living  creatures  said.  Amen :  and  the  elders 
fell  down  and  worshipped. 

In  these  words,  as  I  understand  them,  the  Seer  interprets 
the  preceding  symbols.  For  that  they  are,  in  part  at  least, 
such  an  interpretation,  and  not  a  subsequent  scene  in  the 
vision,  is  evident  from  the  fact,  that  '  every  creature  in 
heaven  '  certainly  includes  the  angel  host  previously  men- 
tioned ;  and  '  every  creature  on  earth  and  on  the  sea '  is  a 
particularization  of  what  is  represented  by  the  four  living 
creatures  (113).  Hence  we  may  understand  their  'Amen,' 
not  as  a  response,  but  as  the  closing  word  of  their  song,  just 
as  the  Lord's  Prayer  closes  ;  and  so  of  the  elders  falling 
down  and  worshipping,  as  a  repetition  for  emphasis  of  what 
has  just  been  said,  that  they  'fell  down  before  the  Lamb.' 
Thus,  as  in  the  preceding  vision  (115)  the  angel  host  and 
the  mundane  creation  praise  God  as  their  Creator,  so  here 
tliey  ascribe  all  honor  and  glory  to  Him  and  to  the  Lamb, 
offering  the  same  worship  to  both,  on  account  of  the  Lord's 
redeeming  sacrifice,  and  of  His  power  thus  acquired  to  reign 
over  the  universe. 

Such  are  some  of  the  great  truths  which  are  here  pictured 
to  our  view  in  imagery  so  vivid  and  expressive  that  its 
general  import  Cannot  be  misunderstood,  however  obscure 
it  may  be  in  some  of  its  minor  details  :  and  these  are  just 


I  26  WISDOM  OF  THE  AFOCAL  YFSE 

those  truths  which  must  always  have  the  deepest  interest 
and  strongest  consolation  for  the  people  of  God.  For  here 
we  behold  our  Jesus,  for  the  merit  and  efficacy  of  His  sacri- 
ficial death,  installed  as  the  mediatorial  ruler  of  the  created 
universe,  as  the  administrative  head  of  the  whole  scheme  of 
divine  providence,  as  the  object  of  worship  to  all  creatures, 
from  the  most  exalted  of  the  unfallen  angels  to  the  lowest 
dweller  upon  earth,  and  even  to  those  who  are  '  under  the 
earth,'  i.  e.  in  Hades ;  all  of  whom  are  partakers  of  con- 
sequences from  His  redemptive  work,  and  hence  deeply 
interested  in  the  great  spiritual  transaction  in  which  He 
enters  upon  His  office  and  government :  *'  We  behold  Him 
who  was  made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels,  Jesus,  for  the 
suffering  of  death,  crowned  with  glory  and  honor.  Thou 
didst  set  Him  over  the  works  of  thy  hands  ;  thou  didst 
put  all  things  under  His  feet  (Heb.  ii.  6-9).  For  He  must 
reign  till  He  hath  put  all  things  under  His  feet ;  the  last 
enemy  that  shall  be  destroyed  is  death"  (i  Cor.  xv.  25-26). 
The  meaning  of  it  all  is  the  ultimate  and  assured  triumph  of 
good  over  evil  in  this  world.  Let  us  rejoice  and  be  glad  in 
this  assurance,  so  that  '  the  joy  of  the  Lord  may  be  our 
strength  '  (Neh.  viii.  10)  to  live  in  expectation  of  this  glorious 
triumph,  and  that  we  may  take  part  in  this  new  song : 
"Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  hath  been  slain  in  sacrifice  to 
take  the  power  and  riches  and  wisdom  and  might  and  honor 
and  glory  and  blessing.  .  .  .  Unto  Him  that  sitteth  upon 
the  throne  and  unto  the  Lamb  be  the  blessing  and  honor 
and  glory  and  might  forever  and  ever." 


XIV 

THE    FIRST    FOUR    SEALS       THE    FOUR    SORE    JUDGMENTS 
OF   GOD      VI    1-8 

The  revelations  which  we  are  now  to  consider  go  forth 
from  the  opening  of  the  seven-sealed  book.  The  first  four 
of  them  constitute  a  class  by  themselves,  differing  from  the 
three  following  in  essential  particulars,  as  is  evident  from 
the  significant  ministry  in  them  of  the  four  living  creatures, 
which  do  not  appear  at  all  in  the  others.  The  most  import- 
ant of  these  differences  seems  to  be,  that  the  judgments  of  the 
first  four  seals  take  place  strictly  within  the  realm  of  nature, 
by  means  of  the  uniform  operation  of  natural  forces  and 
human  agency  according  to  natural  laws ;  whereas,  in  the 
last  three,  they  are  mingled  with  abnormal  or  miraculous 
interpositions  of  divine  power.  All  of  them,  however,  repre- 
sent the  inflictions  which  the  Lord  finds  it  necessary  to  send 
upon  the  rebellious  world  in  subduing  it  unto  Himself. 

I  And  I  saw  when  the  Lamb  opened  orte  of  the  seals  :  and  I  heard 
one  of  the  four  living  creatures  saying  as  with  a  voice  of  thunder, 
Come  :  2  and  I  saw,  and,  behold,  a  white  horse,  and  he  that  sat  upon 
him  had  a  bow,  and  there  was  given  unto  him  a  crow^n,  and  he  came 
forth  conquering  and  to  conquer. 

This  is  the  only  one  of  these  four  seals  which  does  not 
interpret  itself;  and  the  number  of  conflicting  interpretations 
to  which  it  has  given  rise  is  almost  incredible,  ranging  from 
that  which  regards  this  mounted  and  croAvned  bowman  as 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  that  which  identifies  Him  with  the 
devil  !  Lang,",  who  adopts  the  former  view,  along  with  most 
other  commentators,  says,  "The  riders  upon  the  other  three 
horses  ride  behind  Him  as  squires  behind  their  knight"! 
The  American    Editor  of   Lange's   Commentary  interprets 

(127) 


128  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

the  symbol  as  representing  science  and  culture  in  their 
hostility  to  Christianity.  But  all  this  grotesque  diver- 
sity has  arisen  from  failing  to  notice  that  the  Seer  him- 
self has  given  us,  at  the  close  of  the  series,  a  per- 
fectly clear  and  explicit  interpretation  of  this  seal,  as  we 
shall  see  when  we  come  to  it.  Meanwhile,  we  can  attend 
to  the  significant  fact  that,  at  the  opening  of  each  of  these 
four  seals,  one  of  the  living  creatures,  'as  with  a  voice  of 
thunder'  in  the  first  case,  and,  no  doubt,  in  all  the  others, 
utters  the  word,  '  Come.'  In  some  texts  we  have  *  Come  and 
see,'  but  this  addition  is  not  found  in  the  oldest  and  best 
manuscripts,  but  only  the  thundering  imperative,  Come,  in 
the  sense  of  come  forth.  To  whom,  then,  is  this  word 
addressed?  upon  which  also  there  is  a  great  diversity  of 
opinion.  Dean  Alford,  from  whose  scholarly  Commentary  I 
have  derived  much  assistance,  but  from  whom  I  am  com- 
pelled to  differ  in  some  of  his  fundamental  ideas,  under- 
stands this  word  as  a  prayer  that  the  Lord  would  hasten  His 
coming,  though  how  with  due  reverence,  or  with  what 
symbolic  propriety,  it  could  be  addressed  to  Him  *in  a  voice 
of  thunder,'  he  does  not  undertake  to  explain.  This  diver- 
sity of  interpretation  also  has  arisen  from  a  similar  failure 
to  notice  that  the  Seer  has  informed  us  to  whom  these 
living  creatures  speak.  For  in  the  third  seal,  a  voice  is 
heard  *  from  the  midst  of  the  four  living  creatures '  (Rev.  vi. 
6),  as  if  from  all  of  them  at  once,  commanding  the  rider  on 
the  black  horse,  the  symbolic  minister  of  famine,  to  cause  it 
to  rage  with  the  utmost  intensity.  Moreover,  the  command, 
'Come  forth,'  is  immediately  followed,  in  each  case,  by  the 
words,  'and  there  came  forth'  one  of  these  riders  upon 
horses.  We  must  remember  also  that  these  life-forms  are 
seen  'in  the  midst  of  the  throne,'  as  representing  the 
wisdom  and  power  of  God  in  nature  (113),  which  explains 
the  authority  with  which  they  deliver  their  commands. 
From  such  considerations,  it  is  quite  certain  that  this  thun- 
der-word, Come,  is  addressed  to  these  symbolical  ministers 
of  God's  judgments,  commanding  them  to  come  forth  and 
do  their  executions  upon  the  rebellious  world.    They  are  all 


THE  FOUR  SORE  JUDGMENTS  OF  GOD  129 

riders  upon  horses,  to  signify  the  rapidity  and  unavoidable 
impetus  of  the  destructive  forces  of  nature  which  they  sym- 
bolize, in  such  forms  as  war,  pestilence,  and  famine.  What 
particular  judgment  is  represented  by  this  mounted  and 
crowned  bowman  will  appear  when  we  come  to  the  Seer's 
interpretation  of  the  symbol ;  but  here  it  is  plain  enough 
that  he  cannot  represent  the  Lord,  for  how  could  these 
creatures  have  authority  to  give  Him  commands  in  a  voice 
of  thunder? 

3  And  when  He  opened  the  second  seal,  I  heard  the  second  living 
creature  saying,  Come  :  4  and  there  came  forth  another  horse  that  was 
red ;  and  unto  him  that  sat  upon  him  it  was  given  to  take  peace  from 
the  earth,  and  that  they  should  slay  one  another ;  and  there  was  given 
unto  him  a  great  sword. 

There  is  no  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  meaning  of  this 
symbol.  In  the  blood-red  color  of  the  horse,  in  the  great 
sword  with  which  the  rider  is  armed,  in  his  power  to  take 
peace  from  the  earth,  and  cause  that  men  shall  slay  each 
other;  in  each  and  all  of  these  particulars  we  have  symboli- 
cally represented  war,  offensive  and  defensive,  civil  and  in- 
ternational, reciprocal  slaughter,  as  on  the  thousand  battle- 
fields of  human  history.  The  Seer  does  not  inform  us  which 
one  of  the  living  creatures  speaks  in  each  case,  but  probably 
it  is  *  the  one  having  the  face  of  a  man '  that  calls  for  war, 
since  it  depends  upon  man's  agency  (113).  Here,  then,  we 
are  instructed  that  war,  howsoever  the  result  of  human  folly 
and  wickedness,  is  one  of  the  sore  judgments  of  God  ;  and 
certainly  it  is  one  that  can  never  come  to  an  end  until  men 
shall  cease  from  their  rebellion  against  'the  Prince  of  peace' 
(Is.  ix.  6),  and  shall  submit  themselves  to  the  authority  of 
'Shiloh,'  the  giver  of  peace  (Gen.  xlix.  10). 

But  the  severity  of  this  judgment,  the  ravages  of  this 
scourge,  who  can  comprehend  ?  What  boundless  destruction 
of  life  in  prehistoric  times,  and  since,  by  the  conflicts  of 
savage  tribes  !  How  enormous  it  must  have  been  in  the 
Egyptian,  Babylonian,  Ninevite,  Persian,  and  Macedonian 
conquests  !  What  slaughter  in  the  wars  of  the  Roman  re- 
6* 


I30  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

public  and  empire  !  It  is  estimated  that  not  less  than  six 
millions  of  human  beings  must  have  perished  in  the  wars  of 
Ghengis  Khan,  a  single  Asiatic  conqueror  !  Who  can  esti- 
mate the  numbers  that  were  slain  in  the  subjugation  of  Eu- 
rope by  the  northern  barbarians  !  What  untold  millions 
must  have  perished  in  the  Tartar  invasion  of  China  ;  in  the 
Mohammedan,  Marhatta,  and  British  conquests  of  India  ;  in 
the  wars  of  the  Crusades  and  of  the  Reformation;  in  the 
conquest  of  America  by  Spain;  in  the  ravages-by  Napoleon; 
in  the  late  German  invasion  of  France;  in  our  own  civil  con- 
flict ;  and  in  those  which  have  raged  from  immemorial 
ages  to  the  present  time  on  the  continent  of  Africa  in  con- 
nection with  the  slave-trade  !  Is  it  not  well  said,  that  the 
sword  of  him  who  here  goes  forth  to  take  peace  from  the 
earth  is  'a  great  sword  '  ?  And  still  the  most  advanced  and 
so-called  Christian  nations  are  armed  to  the  teeth  against 
each  other.  The  vastness  of  their  armaments  far  exceeds  all 
that  was  ever  before  known;  and  these  will  as  surely  come 
into  use  in  future  wars  as  the  thunder  cloud  is  sure  to  shoot 
forth  its  stored  up  lightning: 

For  nation  will  rise  against  nation, 

And  king-dom  against  kingdom  (Mat.  xxiv.  7). 

And  they  will  fight  every  one  against  his  brother, 

And  every  one  against  his  neighbor ; 

City  against  city, 

And  kingdom  against  kingdom  (Is.  six.  2). 

The  only  thing  that  can  ever  put  a  stop  to  this  reciprocal 
slaughter  is  the  nations  coming  to  submit  themselves  unto 
'the  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords'  (Rev.  xix.  16),  and 
govern  themselves  by  His  peace-giving  authority  and  laws; 
which  in  time  they  must  do,  for 

He  will  judge  between  the  nations, 

And  will  reprove  many  peoples  ; 

And  they  shall  beat  their  swords  into  ploughshares. 

And  their  spears  into  pruning-hooks  ; 

Nation  shall  not  lift  up  sword  against  nation, 

Neither  shall  they  learn  war  any  more  (Is.  ii.  4). 


THE  FOUR  SORE  JUDGMENTS  OF  GOD'  131 

5  And  when  He  opened  the  third  seal,  I  heard  the  third  living  crea- 
ture saying,  Come  :  and  I  saw,  and,  behold,  a  black  horse,  and  he  that 
sat  upon  him  had  a  balance  in  his  hand  :  6  and  I  heard,  as  it  were  a 
voice  in  the  midst  of  the  four  living  creatures  saying,  A  chaenix  of 
wheat  for  a  denarius,  and  three  chaenixes  of  barley  for  a  denarius ;  and 
the  oil  and  the  wne  hurt  thou  not. 

No  less  clearly  does  this  symbol  interpret  itself,  for  the 
minister  of  this  judgment  rides  upon  a  black  horse,  and  black 
is  the  color  of  famine: 

Their  visage  is  blacker  than  a  coal  .  . 
That  be  slain  with  hunger  (Lam.  iv.  8-9). 
Our  skin  is  black  like  an  oven, 
Because  of  the  burning  heat  of  famine  (v.  10). 

The  balance  in  his  hand  signifies  that  the  food  of  the  people 
is  now  to  be  weighed  out  to  them  by  reason  of  its  extreme 
scarcity,  as  in  many  prophecies:  "I  will  break  the  staff  of 
bread  .  .  and  they  shall  eat  it  by  weight  (Ez.  iv.  16).  They 
shall  deliver  your  bread  again  by  weight,  and  ye  shall  eat,  and 
not  be  satisfied  "  (Lev.  xxvi.  26).  Probably  the  living  creature 
that  issues  this  command  is  the  one  like  a  bullock,  representing 
the  useful  animals,  upon  which  human  sustenance  so  largely 
depends  (113).  But  the  '  voice  in  the  midst  of  the  four  living 
creatures  '  seems  to  proceed  from  them  all;  and  it  commands 
the  minister  of  famine  to  make  it  rage  with  the  utmost  in- 
tensity: for  the  chaenix  was  a  measure  containing  less  than  a 
quart,  and  the  denarius  was  a  silver  coin  more  in  weight  than 
one  of  15  cents  in  our  money,  when  this  weight  of  silver  was 
worth  about  as  much  as  a  dollar  is  now,  since  it  was  the  usual 
price  of  a  bushel  of  wheat.  Hence  this  famine  was  such  as 
would  fall  upon  us,  if  the  money  which  now  purchases  a 
bushel  of  wheat  should  suffice  for  no  more  than  a  quart;  the 
consequence  of  which  would  be  that  multitudes  must  perish 
by  starvation.  The  command  not  to  hurt  the  oil  nor  the 
wine  has  been  variously  understood.  Some  strangely  enough 
take  it  as  a  limitation  of  the  famine,  as  if  luxuries  were  to  be 
plentiful,  while  necessaries  are  at  starvation  prices.  But 
wine  and  oil  were  sacred  emblems,  the  one  of  the  blood  of 


1^2  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

Christ,  as  in  the  Eucharist,  the  other  of  the  influences  of 
tlie  Holy  Spirit.  Hence  this  prohibition  is  best  understood 
as  enjoining  that  nothing  shall  be  done  in  detriment  of  the 
spiritual  welfare  of  mankind  ;  for  all  the  judgments  of  God 
have  a  benevolent  object,  as  being  necessary  to  subdue  the 
world  unto  Himself. 

The  severity  of  this  scourge  has  hardly  been  less,  perhaps 
even  greater,  than  that  of  war.  In  former  times,  before 
Christian  civilization  had  provided  our  present  facilities  for 
the  increase  and  transportation  of  food,  it  was  infinitely  more 
destructive  than  it  is  now.  But  in  our  time,  we  have  had  two 
sore  famines  in  Ireland,  by  the  former  of  which  not  less  than 
a  million  of  human  beings  perished;  later  still,  another  in 
China,  by  which  it  has  been  estimated  that  the  population 
of  a  single  province  has  been  diminished  ten  millions  ;  and 
within  the  last  few  years,  Persia  and  Southern  India  have 
been  ravaged;  an  immediate  consequence  of  which,  in  the 
last  case,  has  been  the  conversion  to  Christianity  of  many 
thousands  of  the  heathen.  Famine,  therefore,  is  another  of 
the  Lord's  sore  judgments  to  subdue  the  rebellious  world; 
which  also  can  never  cease  until  His  kingdom  shall  be  every- 
where established,  when  the  prophecy  shall  be  fulfilled  : 

The  ploughman  shall  overtake  the  reaper, 
And  the  treader  of  grapes  him  that  soweth  seed  ; 
And  the  mountains  shall  drop  sweet  wine, 
And  the  hills  shall  melt  (Amos,  ix.  13). 
Your  threshing;  shall  reach  unto  the  vintage, 
And  the  vintage  shall  reach  unto  the  sowing  time ; 
And  ye  shall  eat  your  bread  to  the  full, 
And  dwell  in  your  land  safely  (Lev.  xxvi.  5). 

7  And  when  He  opened  the  fourth  seal,  I  heard  the  voice  of  the 
fourth  living-  creature  saying,  Come  :  8  and  I  saw,  and,  behold,  a  pale 
horse ;  and  he  that  sat  upon  him,  his  name  was  Death,  and  Hades  fol- 
lOAved  -with  him. 

For  the  most  part,  this  symbol  also  interprets  itself,  for 
Death  here  is  to  be  understood  with  special  reference  to 
pestilence,  to  which  this  name  is  given  by  a  figure  of  speech 
the  same  that  we  use  when  we  call  it  the  plague,  as  if  it  were 
the  most  terrible  of  all  plagues;  and,  indeed,  a  peculiar  form 
of  pestilence   in  former  times  was  called   the  black   death. 


THE  FOUR  SORE  JUDGMENTS  OF  GOD  133 

The  name  is  significant  of  the  vast  multitudes  whom  pesti- 
lence destroys,  and  whose  bodies  were  formerly  devoured  by 
the  birds  of  prey.  Hence  it  is  probable  that  the  living 
creature  which  calls  forth  this  plague  is  the  one  like  an 
eagle  (113),  in  allusion,  perhaps,  to  the  words  of  the  Lord: 
"  Wheresoever  the  carcase  is,  there  will  the  eagles  be  gath- 
ered together"  (Mat.  xxiv.  28).  Hades  is  here  and  else- 
where (39)  personified  as  the  baleful  power  which  drags  the 
dead  down  to  its  dark  domain,  as  in  the  following  passages  : 
"  God  will  redeem  my  soul  from  the  power  of  Hades  (Ps. 
xlix.  15).  A  proud  man  .  .  who  enlargeth  his  desire  as 
Hades,  and  he  is  as  death,  and  cannot  be  satisfied,  but 
gathereth  unto  him  all  nations,  and  heapeth  unto  him  all 
peoples  "  (Hab.  ii.  5).  With  this  following.  Death  here  rides 
upon  a  '  pale  '  horse,  the  color  of  corpses  and  the  symbol  of 
terror,  such  as  prevails  amidst  the  ravages  of  pestilence, 
when  the  most  awful  panics  occur,  one  of  which  I  witnessed 
in  the  cholera  of  1849. 

As  indicated  by  the  gloom  of  these  symbols,  and  as  exem- 
plified in  history,  it  is  probable  that  this  judgment  has  not 
been  less  destructive  than  either  war  or  famine.  The 
Roman  historians  inform  us  that  'a  furious  plague,  in  the 
third  century,  raged  for  15  years  without  interruption  in 
every  province  and  city,  and  almost  in  every  family  in  the 
empire,  during  which  5,000  persons  died  daily  at  Rome,  and 
many  towns  that  had  escaped  the  ravages  of  the  barbarians 
were  entirely  depopulated.'  What  innumerable  multitudes 
have  perished  by  the  small-pox,  yellow  fever,  Asiatic  cholera, 
and  other  species  of  pestilence  !  And,  worst  of  all,  the  black 
death  has  raged  from  time  to  time  since  the  commencement 
of  human  history  over  almost  the  whole  world.  In  Europe 
alone  during  the  fourteenth  century  it  is  estimated  to  have 
carried  off  80,000,000  of  people. 

8  And  authority  was  given  unto  them  over  a  fourth  part  of  the 
earth  to  kill  with  the  sword  and  with  famine  and  with  Death  and  with 
the  wild  beasts  of  the  earth. 

It  is  in  these  words  that  we  find  our  Seer's  interpretation 
of  the  first  seal.     It  is  true,  they  are  referred  by  all  the  com- 


134 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


mentators  to  Death  and  Hades,  notwithstanding  it  is  abso- 
lutely demonstrable  by  two  reasons  that  they  cannot  ration- 
ally be  so  understood:  for  (i)  this  interpretation  requires 
that  Hades  should  be  taken  in  the  sense  of  a  power  to 
destroy  life,  a  meaning  which  it  has  nowhere  else,  for  which 
no  example  or  authority  has  ever  been  produced:  (2)  by  no 
law  of  exegesis  can  either  pestilence  or  Hades  be  made  to 
include  the  killing  of  men  by  the  sword,  or  by  famine,  or  by 
wild  beasts.  Hence  to  understand  the  words,  '  authority 
was  given  unto  them  '  thus  to  destroy  life,  is  nothing  less 
than  absurd.  If  it  were  not  for  numerous  similar  and  inex- 
plicable instances,  it  would  be  very  surprising  that  no  one 
seems  ever  to  have  thought  of  reading  this  closing  state- 
ment as  a  paragraph  by  itself,  and  conssquently  as  referring, 
not  exclusively  to  the  last,  but  to  all  of  these  four  seals:  for 
thus  it  would  have  been  seen  at  a  glance  that  special  pains 
are  here  taken  to  explain  the  first  of  them,  the  only  one  that 
has  hitherto  been  left  in  any  obscurity  ;  and  so  the  com- 
mentators would  have  been  spared  their  wild  guessing,  that 
the  mounted  and  crowned  bowman  must  represent  either  the 
Lord  or  the  devil !  Here,  then,  after  the  first  four  seals  have 
been  opened,  and  in  view  of  the  entirely  different  character 
of  those  that  are  to  follow,  in  which  the  living  creatures  will 
have  no  ministry,  the  Apocalyptist  comes  to  a  place  where  he 
may  fitly  pause,  and  add  whatever  may  be  necessary  to  a 
clear  and  certain  understanding  of  the  symbols  he  has  just  de- 
scribed. Accordingly  he  adds  the  following  words,  "  And 
authority  was  given  unto  them,"  i.  e.  to  these  four  ministers 
of  the  divine  judgments,  "  to  kill  (i)  with  the  sword,"  which 
self-evidently  refers  to  that  one  of  them  who  is  armed  with  a 
great  sword,  and  whose  mission  is  to  take  peace  from  the 
earth,  that  men  should  slay  one  another:  (2)  "  with  famine," 
which  no  less  plainly  refers  to  him  who  makes  food  so 
scarce  that  great  multitudes  perish  by  starvation  :  (3)  "  with 
Death,"  i.  e.  pestilence.  Hades  following  (133)  to  lay  hold 
upon  the  dead;  (4)  "  and  with  the  wild  beasts  of  the  earth," 
which  consequently  must  refer  to  the  only  remaining  one  of 
these  four  ministers,  i.  e.  to  him  of  the  first  seal.     Here,  then, 


THE  FOUR  SORE  JUDGMENTS  OF  GOD  135 

according  to  the  Seer's  own  interpretation,  this  rider  upon  a 
white  horse,  with  a  crown  and  bow,  and  called  forth  by  the 
lion-like  living  creature,  is  the  symbol  of  the  plague  of  wild 
beasts.  Evidently  it  is  not  self-interpreting,  as  are  the 
others,  and  for  this  reason,  the  others  being  used  as  means, 
it  is  authoritatively  interpreted  for  us  by  the  Seer  himself,  as 
in  other  cases  of  obscure  symbols  (112)  ;  yet,  when  thus 
understood  in  its  general  import,  its  particulars  become  very 
significant  and  expressive.  For  the  minister  of  this  scourge 
rides  upon  a  white  horse,  which  is  always  the  symbol  of 
triumphant  progress,  as  in  the  Roman  pomps  ;  a  crown 
is  given  him,  and  he  comes  forth  conquering  and  to  conquer, 
literally,  '  that  he  may  conquer,'  to  signify  that  this  plague 
shall  extensively  prevail;  and  he  is  armed  with  a  bow,  the 
most  effective  weapon  then  in  use  for  hunting,  to  suggest 
the  general  significance  of  the  symbol,  perhaps,  also,  to 
denote  that,  instead  of  men  hunting  beasts,  beasts  should 
hunt  men. 

In  further  confirmation  of  this  interpretation,  it  should  be 
observed  that  these  four  seals  are  universally  recognized  as 
constituting  a  class  by  themselves  (127):  but  all  the  members 
of  a  class  must  be  of  the  same  sort,  so  that  they  can  be 
obtained  by  one  principle  of  analysis ;  and  this  principle  in 
three  of  these,  war,  pestilence,  and  famine,  is  that  of  a  judg- 
ment or  scourge  ;  consequently,  in  the  remaining  one,  that 
of  the  first  seal,  it  must  be  a  judgment  or  scourge  ;  other- 
wise the  laws  of  thought  are  violated  in  the  classification. 
It  is  of  more  importance,  however,  to  observe  that,  in  the 
prophets,  war,  pestilence,  famine,  and  wild  beasts  are  fre- 
quently called  'the  four  sore  judgments  of  God,'  as  in  the 
following  passages  :  "I  send  my  four  sore  judgments  upon 
Jerusalem,  the  sword  and  the  famine  and  the  noisome  beasts 
and  the  pestilence  (Ez.  xiv.  21).  I  will  send  upon  you  famine 
and  evil  beasts,  and  they  shall  bereave  thee  ;  and  pestilence 
and  blood  shall  pass  through  thee  ;  and  I  will  bring  the 
sword  upon  thee"  (v.  17).  A  similar  mention  of  them 
occurs  in  other  places  (xiv.  13-20).  And  with  respect  to 
the  plague  of  wild  beasts  particularly,  there  are  a  great  many 


136 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


passages  where  it  is  spoken  of  as  one  of  the  sore  judgments 
of  God,  of  which  the  following  is  a  single  example  :  "  I  will 
send  wild  beasts  among  you,  which  shall  rob  you  of  your 
children  .  .  and  make  you  few  in  number,  and  your  ways 
shall  become  desolate"  (Lev.  xxvi.  22).  For  this  scourge  is 
often  connected,  both  as  cause  and  effect,  with  depopulation. 
It  causes  great  destruction  of  life  where  population  has  been 
previously  thmned  by  war,  pestilence,  or  famine.  The 
Roman  historians  inform  us  that,  in  some  provinces  of  the 
empire  which  had  been  ravaged  by  the  northern  barbarians, 
there  was  an  enormous  multiplication  of  beasts  of  prey 
during  the  third  and  fourth  centuries.  One  of  them  casually 
mentions  that  as  many  as  500  wolves  at  one  time  fell  upon 
the  few  surviving  inhabitants  of  a  ruined  city.  In  savage 
and  semi-civilized  countries,  where  the  climate  will  permit 
it,  this  scourge  is  always  ravining.  The  whole  continent  of 
Africa  has  always  been  afflicted  with  lions,  leopards,  pan- 
thers, crocodiles,  and  other  ferocious  beasts,  and  with  almost 
innumerable  serpents,  some  of  enormous  size,  and  many  of 
them  poisonous.  In  India,  at  the  present  time,  some  20,000 
persons  annually  lose  their  lives  from  this  cause.  Such  are 
the  actual  facts  in  nature,  and  such  they  have  ever  been, 
except  where  Christian  civilization  has  mitigated  or  put  an 
end  to  this  plague.  We  need  not  hesitate,  therefore,  to  take 
this  striking  symbol  of  the  first  seal  as  a  representation  of 
the  destructive  forces  of  nature  embodied  in,  and  executing 
the  judgments  of  God  by  means  of,  'the  wild  beasts  of  the 
earth.' 

Thus  we  see  that  these  four  seals  represent  the  four  sore 
judgments  of  God,  which  He  finds  it  necessary  to  send  upon 
mankind  in  order  to  subdue  their  rebellion  against  Himself: 
and  this  precisely  is  the  significance  of  their  disclosure  by 
the  opening  of  these  seals  ;  for,  as  mere  sufferings,  they  are 
in  no  wise  under  seal,  or  hidden  ;  they  are  universally  known 
and  felt ;  hut,  as  His  judgments,  they  are  not  known,  but 
are  referred  to  their  natural  causes,  and  the  natural  mind 
looks  no  further.  Flere,  therefore,  by  the  loosing  of  their 
seals,  the  hand  and  purpose  of  God  in  them  is  disclosed,  and 


THE  FOUR  SORE  JUDGMENTS  OF  GOD  137 

we  learn  that  through  them  the  Lord  Christ  is  judging  the 
world  for  its  rebellion  against  His  authority.  And  as  it  is 
said  here,  that  '  authority  was  given  unto  them  over  a  fourth 
part  of  the  earth  '  (which  is  another  indication  that  the  words 
refer  to  these  four  ministers  of  judgment),  so  there  can  be 
little  doubt  but  that  by  these  plagues  a  fourth  part  of  man- 
kind constantly  perishes.  However  gloomy,  therefore,  these 
symbolical  pictures,  they  certainly  are  not  overcharged, 
since  they  simply  represent  the  actual  facts  of  nature  and 
history,  and  only  some  of  the  evils  which  men  suffer  for 
want  of  the  benign  influences  of  the  gospel  and  Christian 
civilization.  For  these  plagues  are  all  mitigated,  and  they 
tend  to  disappear,  as  the  Lord's  blessed  kingdom  makes 
progress  and  becomes  established  in  the  world.  That  of 
wild  beasts  has  already  passed  away  from  all  countries 
where  Christianity  has  developed  a  high  and  powerful  civil- 
ization, which  is  one  of  its  invariable  consequences.  Famine 
and  pestilence  are  greatly  mitigated,  and  must  ultimately 
cease  v/herever  its  sanitary  precautions,  and  its  ever  in- 
creasing appliances  for  the  abundant  production  and  rapid 
transportation  of  food,  shall  come  to  prevail.  And  as  for 
war,  in  so  far  as  it  still  continues  to  rage,  manifestly  this  is 
because  the  Christian  religion  has  gained  as  yet  no  foothold 
in  many  countries,  and  is  so  imperfectly  realized  in  others. 
For  when  the  Lord's  kingdom  shall  be  everywhere  estab- 
lished, and  its  moral  laws  shall  come  to  be  more  perfectly 
understood  and  obeyed,  self-evidently  it  can  be  nothing  else 
but  a  kingdom  of  peace.  When  the  nations  shall  be  gathered 
under  the  sceptre  of  Shiloh  (129),  then  the  ancient  proph- 
ecies must  be  fulfilled,  that  war  shall  be  no  more,  and  "  they 
shall  sit  every  man  under  his  vine  and  under  his  fig  tree,  and 
none  shall  make  them  afraid,  for  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  of 
hosts  hath  spoken  it  "  (Micah  iv.  4). 

The  practical  lessons  of  these  four  seal-openings  are  many 
and  of  great  importance,  some  of  which  are  the  following  : 
(i)  The  sufferings  of  mankind,  howsoever  depending  upon 
natural  causes  operating  according  to  uniform  laws,  are  the 
penal  consequences  of  sin,  and  indispensable  to  its  correction, 


138  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

and  to  the  establishment  of  the  Lord's  blessed  kingdom  : 
(2)  The  plagues  of  war,  pestilence,  famine,  and  wild  beasts 
must  continue  their  ravages,  until  the  nations  and  mankind 
in  general  shall  come  to  acknowledge  and  submit  to  the 
authority  of  the  Lord  Christ  and  keep  His  laws  :  (3)  The 
best  thing  we  can  do  to  mitigate  these  plagues,  and  cause 
them  ultimately  to  cease,  is  to  pray  and  labor  with  all  our 
powers  for  the  progress  of  the  gospel  in  the  world  at  large 
and  in  individual  souls,  until  'Thy  kingdom  come'  shall  re- 
ceive its  crowning  answer  and  fulfilment.  May  the  Lord 
hasten  it  in  its  time  \ 


XV 

THE    FIFTH    SEAL      THE    SOULS   OF   THE    MARTYRS    UNDER 
THE   ALTAR        VI   9-I I 

The  first  four  seals  establish  the  point,  that  the  judgments 
and  events  of  these  visions  do  not  always  follow  in  the  order 
of  time  in  which  they  are  successively  represented  ;  for 
pestilence  and  famine,  though  commonly  they  are  preceded 
by  war,  sometimes  occur  in  times  of  peace,  and  the  plague 
of  wild  beasts,  which  is  the  first  of  the  series,  is  often  sub- 
sequent to  all  the  others.  In  fact,  any  one  of  these  calamities 
may  precede  or  follow  any  other,  and  all  of  them  may  be 
experienced  at  the  same  time.  In  like  manner,  we  are  not 
to  understand  that  what  is  represented  under  this  fifth  seal 
is  either  prior  or  subsequent  to  what  has  gone  before.  In- 
deed, the  symbol,  although  it  is  wonderfully  picturesque, 
does  not  picture  historical  events,  but  what  belongs  exclu- 
sively to  the  invisible  spiritual  world.  Hence  the  question  of 
historical  precedence  and  sequence,  where  it  is  a  matter  of 
any  importance,  must  be  determaned  by  other  evidence  than 
the  order  of  the  visions  ;  and  this  is  one  of  the  leading  prin- 
ciples of  interpretation  for  the  symbols  of  this  book.  Hence, 
also,  we  have  here  no  ministry  of  the  living  creatures  which, 
at  the  opening  of  the  preceding  seals,  uttered  their  thunder- 
word  of  command  to  the  destructive  forces  of  nature  to 
come  forth  and  execute  the  divine  judgments  (128)  ;  for 
what  this  symbol  represents  does  not  take  place  within  the 
realm  of  nature,  and  there  are  no  judgments  executed,  but  a 
reason  is  given  for  their  delay. 

9  And  when  He  opened  the  fifth  seal,  I  saw  under  the  altar  the 
souls  of  them  that  had  been  slain  in  sacrifice  for  the  word  of  God  and 
for  the  testimony  which  they  held. 

The  word  here  rendered  'slain  in  sacrifice'  is  the  same 
that   is   constantly  applied  to  the   sacrificial   death  of  the 

(139) 


I40  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

Lamb  (121);  and  thus  the  martyrs  are  identified  with  Him 
in  His  most  holy  sacrifice,  not,  indeed,  in  its  atoning  efficacy, 
but  as  witnesses  to  make  it  known,  just  as  He  is  identified 
with  them  in  that  He  is  'the  faithful  martyr'  (15).  This  idea 
is  still  further  developed  and  emphasized  by  the  statement 
that  they  suffered  '  for  the  word  of  God  and  for  the  testimony 
which  they  held,'  as  He  did,  and  by  their  souls  being  seen 
'under  the  altar';  for  this  altar  must  be  understood  as  that 
upon  which  the  bloody  sacrifices  were  offered,  whose  blood, 
in  which  was  the  soul  or  life  of  the  victim,  was  poured  out 
at  its  foot,  and  hence  these  souls  of  the  martyrs  are  here 
represented  as  under  it.  We  are  not  to  understand  that 
the)^  were  personally  there,  any  more  than  that  the  pestilence 
actually  rides  upon  a  pale  horse,  for  this  whole  altar-scene 
is  a  pictorial  symbol,  and  must  be  symbolically  interpreted. 
But  as  to  their  identification  with  the  Lord  in  the  sacrificial 
character  of  their  death,  we  have  many  other  declarations 
to  the  same  effect,  as  in  the  words  of  St.  Paul  :  "  Now  I 
rejoice  in  my  sufferings  for  you,  and  fill  up  those  things 
which  are  behind  of  the  afflictions  of  Christ  in  my  flesh  for 
His  body's  sake  which  is  the  church  (Col.  i.  24).  I  am  now 
being  poured  out  (2  Tim.  iv.  6).  And  if  I  also  am  poured  out 
upon  the  sacrifice  and  service  of  your  faith,  I  joy  and  rejoice 
with  you  all"  (Phil.  ii.  17). 

10  And  they  cried  with  a  great  voice,  saying,  How  long,  O  Mas- 
ter, holy  and  true,  dost  thou  not  judge  and  avenge  our  blood  on  them 
that  dw^ell  upon  the  earth  ? 

They  address  the  Lord  as  their  'Master,'  because,  as  His 
servants,  they  have  a  right  to  His  protection,  and  to  the 
vindication  of  the  cause  for  which  they  have  suffered,  and 
they  appeal  to  His  holiness  and  truth,  as  requiring  that  He 
should  avenge  their  blood  upon  the  earth-dwellers  ;  for  their 
martyrdom,  as  identified  with  that  of  the  Lord,  is  the  sin  of 
the  world.  But  here  we  naturally  ask,  How  does  this 
prayer  agree  with  that  of  St.  Stephen  for  his  murderers, 
'  Lord,  lay  not  this  sin  to  their  charge  '?  (Acts  vii.  60)  or  v/ith 
that  of  Jesus  upon  the  cross,  '  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they 


THE  SOULS  OF  THE  MARTYRS  UNDER  THE  ALTAR    141 

know  not  what  they  do '  ?  (Luke  xxiii.  46).  Does  it  not 
express  an  unchristian  sentiment  ?  For  the  solution  of  this 
difficulty,  we  must  bear  in  mind  the  intensely  symbolical 
character  of  the  whole  representation,  and  may  recall  what 
is  said  of  the  first  martyr,  Abel  :  ''  The  Lord  said  unto 
Cain,  .  .  .  The  voice  of  thy  brother's  blood  crieth  unto  me 
from  the  ground  "  (Gen.  iv.  9-10),  For  no  one  finds  any 
difficulty  in  that  highly  figurative  and  poetical,  yet  most 
significant  expression  ;  and  this  symbolical  cry  of  the 
martyrs  expresses  the  same  truth,  namely,  that  their  blood 
does  unceasingly  cry  '  with  a  great  voice '  for  the  divine 
justice  to  be  executed  upon  the  world  as  guilty  of  it.  But 
this  is  only  a  partial  solution  of  the  difficulty,  for  we  shall 
see  hereafter  that  the  Lord's  judgments  do  literally  come 
upon  the  world  in  answer  to  *the  prayers  of  all  the  saints' 
(Rev.  viii.  3-5)  that  His  kingdom  may  be  established,  unto 
which  these  judgments  are  a  necessary  means  :  and  this  is 
one  of  the  great  truths  disclosed  in  these  unveilings  of  the 
spiritual  world. 

II  And  there  was  given  unto  them,  to  each  one  a  -white  robe  ;  and 
it  was  said  unto  them,  that  they  should  rest  yet  for  a  little  v/hile,  until 
their  fellow  servants  and  their  brethren  who  should  be  killed,  as  they 
were,  should  be  fulfilled. 

This  symbol  of  the  white  robe  frequently  occurs,  and,  in 
the  case  of  redeemed  souls,  always  with  the  same  meaning, 
namely,  that  they  have  obtained  the  victory  over  their  spir- 
itual enemies  (37)  and  have  been  purified  from  the  defile- 
ments of  sin  through  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  (85).  Here  it 
must  be  taken  with  all  that  it  signifies  and  that  goes  with  it, 
in  order  to  comprehend  the  state  in  which  these  martyr  souls 
actually  are,  while  they  wait  for  their  final  vindication.  For 
doubtless  it  is  the  '  fine  linen  pure  and  bright '  (Rev.  xix.  8), 
in  which  the  Bride  is  brought  home  to  the  mansions  of  her 
celestial  Bridegroom,  and  the  'wedding  garment '  (Mat,  xxii. 
ii-r2),  which  secures  a  cordial  welcome  to  the  marriage 
supper  of  the  King's  Son  :  moreover,  those  who  are  thus 
arrayed  walk  with  their  Lord,  having  palms  in  their  hands, 


142 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


and  join  in  the  triumplial  songs  of  the  lieavenly  host  (Rev. 
vii.  9-14)-  Thus  we  see  how  much  is  implied,  either  as  pres- 
ent or  prospective,  by  this  gift  of  the  white  robe  to  the 
martyr  souls;  and  all  this,  in  perfect  consistency  with  their 
symbolical  cry  for  the  justice  of  God  upon  their  murderers. 
Their  blessedness  is  still  further  declared  by  its  being  said 
unto  them,  '  that  they  should  rest  yet  for  a  little  while,"  for 
this  is  not  to  be  taken  as  a  limitation  of  their  rest,  but  only 
of  their  waiting,  and  the  rest  itself  is  to  be  interpreted  by 
what  is  said  of  it  in  a  subsequent  vision:  "I  heard  a  voice 
from  heaven,  saying,  Write,  Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in 
the  Lord  from  henceforth:  yea,  saith  the  Spirit,  that  they 
may  rest  from  their  labors;  for  their  works  do  follow  them  " 
(Rev.  xiv.  i2>)-  I^^  ^ne,  the  reason  given  why  these  judg- 
ments must  be  delayed  for  a  little  while  is,  that  the  number 
of  the  martyrs  is  not  yet  filled  up;  others  still,  their  fellow 
servants,  in  allusion  to  the  Lord  as  their  '  Master,'  and  their 
brethren,  must  suffer,  as  they  have  done  (10),  '  for  the  word 
of  God  and  the  testimony  of  Jesus'  (25).  Not  enough 
martyr  blood  has  yet  been  shed  to  make  their  witnessing  all- 
powerful;  not  enough  of  this  precious  '  seed  of  the  church  ' 
has  been  sown  to  bring  forth  the  whole  fruit  of  the  cov- 
enanted salvation.  But  this  delay  is  not  to  be  understood  as 
if  they  had  hitherto  gone  altogether  unavenged,  but  in  the 
sense  that  their  full  vindication  could  not  take  place  until 
their  number  should  be  completed;  for  as  martyr  blood  has 
never  ceased  to  flow,  so  has  there  never  been  a  time  when  it 
was  not  at  least  partially  avenged.  Moreover,  the  cup  of  the 
world's  iniquities  is  not  yet  full;  it  must  be  filled  up  to  the 
brim  by  more  martyrdoms;  and  then  the  final  judgments 
shall  be  no  longer  delayed:  the  time  also  shall  be  short;  yet 
'  a  little  while,'  in  God's  measurement,  and  the  glorious 
cause  of  the  martyrs  shall  be  triumphantly  vindicated. 

Such  is  the  plain  meaning  of  the  symbols  of  this  fifth  seal; 
and  surely  in  no  other  way  could  the  great  and  solemn  truth 
Vv^hich  it  discloses  be  so  vividly  and  impressively  represented. 
But  what  precisely  is  this  truth,  which  was  kept  under  seal, 
as  one  of  the  secrets  of  God,  until  it  was  revealed  in  this  seal- 


THE  SOULS  OF  THE  MARTYRS  UNDER   THE  ALTAR 


143 


opening  ?  Evidently  this,  that  the  great  judgments  which 
come,  and  are  yet  to  come,  upon  mankind,  the  'earth 
dwellers,'  are  in  punishment  for  their  treatment  of  the  mar- 
tyrs, the  Lord  and  His  servants,  and  in  vindication  of  the 
cause  for  which  they  suffered.  For  this  is  something  which 
can  be  known  only  by  such  a  disclosure  of  God's  secret  coun- 
sels, of  which  the  world  at  large  is  still  ignorant,  and  which 
is  by  no  means  appreciated  as  it  should  be  by  the  church 
herself.  For  the  blood-guiltiness  of  the  world  in  the  murder 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,  of  His  prophets  and  apostles,  and  of  '  the 
noble  army  of  martyrs,'  is  such  that  it  can  never  be  meas- 
ured, nor  ever  be  made  known  in  its  enormity,  otherwise 
than  by  the  judgments  which  it  brings  upon  mankind,  as 
these  are  portrayed  in  the  subsequent  visions  of  this  book. 
The  crucifixion  of  the  Lord  of  glory  by  the  hands  of  those 
whom  He  came  to  save;  'all  the  righteous  blood  shed  on 
earth,  from  the  blood  of  righteous  Abel  unto  the  blood  of 
Zachariah  son  of  Barachiah,  who  was  slain  between  the 
sanctuary  and  the  altar  '  (Mat.  xxiii.  35);  the  long  and  bloody 
persecutions  of  the  primitive  Christians,  in  which  such  multi- 
tudes of  them  miserably  perished;  the  horrid  cruelties  in- 
flicted upon  them,  when  they  were  thrown  to  the  wild  beasts 
in  the  amphitheatres,  were  smeared  with  pitch  and  burned 
alive  to  light  the  public  gardens,  while  the  people  delighted 
themselves  with  the  spectacle  ;  all  that  has  come  to  light 
from  the  catacombs  of  Rome,  where  they  found  a  subter- 
ranean refuge,  where  their  children  were  born,  lived,  and 
died,  without  ever  seeing  the  light  of  the  sun;  all  that  took 
place  in  the  Waldensian  and  Huguenot  persecutions,  and  in 
the  dungeons  of  the  Spanish  inquisition:  the  guilt  of  all  this 
is  such  that  it  can  never  be  comprehended  by  any  but  God; 
and  the  demand  which  it  makes  upon  His  justice  is  such  that 
it  could  not  be  fitly  represented  by  any  less  powerful  sym- 
bol than  that  of  the  souls  of  the  martyrs  under  the  altar  of 
burnt  sacrifices,  crying  with  a  great  voice,  'How  long,  O 
Master,  holy  and  true,  dost  thou  not  avenge  our  blood  on 
them  that  dwell  upon  the  earth  ? ' 

Finally,  we  see  here  that  the  judgment  of  God  upon  rebel- 


144 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


lious  souls  is  delayed  only  that  His  people  may  be  all  gath- 
ered in,  their  number  completed,  and  until  the  cup  of  the 
world's  iniquities  shall  be  filled  up.  Then  shall  the  end 
come.  Divine  justice  will  be  executed  upon  all  those  who, 
by  rejection  of  their  Saviour,  have  consented  unto  His  death 
and  to  the  martyrdom  of  His  servants.  Then  will  be  ful- 
filled that  which  He  has  prophesied  concerning  them,  and  of 
which  there  is  always  a  dim  foreboding  in  their  consciences: 
"  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  the  everlasting  fire  which 
is  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels  "  (Mat.  xxiv.  41).  He 
will  do  them  no  wrong.  Not  one  drop  of  punishment  will 
He  give  them  to  drink  which  they  have  not  justly  deserved. 
He  will  duly  consider  all  the  aggravations  of  their  guilt,  and 
all  its  palliations  as  well,  and  will  treat  them  with  even- 
handed  justice  ;  and  He  only  can  judge  what  His  justice  re- 
quires. But  who  for  himself  can  stand  under  the  justice  of 
God  ?  Do  we  not  all  need  that  mercy  which  is  so  freely 
offered  us  ?  Oh,  let  us  not  reject  it,  for  '  yet  a  little  while,' 
and 

He  that  being  often  reproved  hardeneth  his  neck 

Shall  suddenly  be  destroyed,  and  that  without  remedy  (Prov.  xxix.  i). 


XVI 

THE   SIXTH   SEAL      HARBINGERS   OF   THE   LAST  JUDGMENT 

VI  12-17 

When  the  fifth  seal  was  opened,  we  saw  the  souls  of  the 
martyrs  under  the  altar  of  bloody  sacrifices,  and  heard  their 
cry  for  the  justice  of  God  to  avenge  their  blood  upon  the 
guilty  world;  but  for  this  they  were  to  wait  'a  little  while,' 
until  their  number  should  be  filled  up.  Now,  therefore,  at 
the  opening  of  the  sixth  seal,  this  interval  of  time  has  elapsed, 
their  number  is  complete,  and  we  behold  their  vindication  as 
about  to  take  place,  the  final  consummation  as  imminent. 
The  symbolic  picture  here  presented  to  our  view  is  not  that 
of  the  last  judgment  itself,  which  will  not  take  place  until 
the  close  of  the  visions  that  go  forth  in  prolonged  succession 
from  the  opening  of  the  seventh  seal,  although  this  does  not 
imply  any  extension  of  time,  but  the  harbingers  of  the  end 
are  here  represented  by  portentous  phenomena,  as  foretold 
by  the  prophets: 

I  will  show  wonders  in  the  heavens  and  in  the  earth, 

Blood  and  fire  and  pillars  of  smoke  : 

The  sun  shall  be  turned  into  darkness, 

And  the  moon  into  blood, 

Before  the  great  and  terrible  day  of  the  Lord  come  (Joel  ii.  30-31)- 

Here  also  we  have  a  vivid  portrayal  of  the  terror  and  anguish 
which  these  harbingers  will  awaken  in  all  classes  of  mankind. 
From  the  physical  phenomena  described  we  might  anticipate 
that  the  living  creatures,  the  symbol  of  the  divine  powers  in 
nature  (113),  would  reappear  with  their  ministry,  but  they  are 
kept  out  of  view  apparently  for  the  reason,  that  the  things 
here  represented  are  not,  strictly  speaking,  natural  phenom- 
ena, i,  e.  they  are  not  produced  by  the  uniform  operation 
7  (145) 


146  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YFSE 

of  natural  forces,  but  are  altogether  abnormal,  or  miraculous, 
wherein  they  differ  fundamentally  from  those  of  the  first  four 
seals  (127).  It  must  be  acknowledged,  however,  that  this  rea- 
son is  not  perfectly  satisfactory,  for  where  the  disclosures  of 
this  seal  are  more  particularly  described,  as  in  the  vision  of 
the  seven  last  plagues,  one  of  these  symbolical  creatures 
does  reappear,  although  his  ministry  there  is  kept  in  the 
background  (Rev.  xv.  7). 

12  And  I  saw  when  He  opened  the  sixth  seal :  and  there  was  a 
great  earthquake  ;  and  the  sun  became  black  as  sackcloth  of  hair,  and 
the  whole  moon  became  as  blood  ;  13  and  the  stars  of  heaven  fell  unto 
the  earth,  as  a  fig  tree  casteth  her  untimely  figs,  being  shaken  by  a 
great  wind  ;  14  and  the  heaven  parted  asunder,  as  a  scroll  being  rolled 
up ;  and  every  mountain  and  island  were  moved  out  of  their  places. 

The  first  of  these  phenomena  is  a  great  ffeiGj.io'^,  which, 
though  the  word  is  commonly  applied  to  earthquakes,  signi- 
fies literally  a  shaking  or  trembling.  The  Seer  beholds  in 
vision  a  universal  trembling  of  the  earth  and  the  heavens,  as 
if  they  were  seized  with  appalling  terrors.  It  is  of  frequent 
occurrence  in  the  symbolical  sense  of  convulsion  and  subver- 
sion of  all  earthly  and  worldly  relations  among  men,  in  order 
that  those  of  the  Lord's  kingdom  may  be  established;  which 
is,  no  doubt,  its  meaning  here,  as  also  in  the  following  pass- 
ages: ''Yet  once,  it  is  a  little  while,  and  I  will  shake  the 
heavens  and  the  earth  and  the  sea  and  the  dry  land;  and  I 
will  shake  all  nations  (Hag.  ii.  6-7).  Whose  voice  then  shook 
the  earth;  but  now  He  hath  promised,  saying.  Yet  once  more 
will  I  make  tremble,  not  the  earth  only,  but  also  the  heaven. 
And  this  'yet  once  more'  signifieth  the  removing  of  those 
things  that  are  shaken,  as  of  things  that  have  been  made, 
that  those  things  which  are  not  shaken  may  remain  "  (Heb. 
xii.  26-27).  The  images  that  follow  are  also  of  frequent  oc- 
currence: "There  shall  be  signs  in  the  sun  and  moon  and 
stars;  and  upon  the  earth  distress  of  nations  in  perplexity; 
the  sea  and  the  waves  roaring;  men's  hearts  failing  them  for 
fear  and  apprehension  of  those  things  which  are  coming  up- 
on the  earth;  for  the  powers  of  the  heavens  shall  be  shaken 
(Luke  xxi.  25-26). 


HARBINGERS  QF  THE  LAST  JUDGMENT  147 

I  clothe  the  heavens  with  blackness, 

And  make  sackcloth  their  covering  (Is.  1.  3). 

All  the  host  of  heaven  shall  be  dissolved, 

And  the  heavens  shall  be  rolled  together  as  a  scroll ; 

And  all  their  host  shall  fade  away, 

As  the  leaf  fadeth  from  the  vine. 

And  as  a  fading  [leafj  from  the  fig  tree  (xxxiv.  4). 

The  sun  shall  be  darkened, 

And  the  moon  shall  not  givs  her  light  (Mat.  xxiv.  29). 

The  moon  shall  be  turned  into  blood  (Joel  ii.  31). 

And  the  stars  shall  fall  from  heaven.   .  . 

The  heavens  shall  pass  away  with  a  great  noise, 

And  the  elements  shall  melt  with  fervent  heat "  (2  Pet.  iii.  10). 

As  to  the  meaning  of  these  symbols,  the  heavenly  bodies 
are  used  in  Scripture  for  various  symbolical  purposes, 
with  a  wide  range  of  significance,  but  most  frequently  to 
denote  the  common  and  mediate  sources  and  supplies  of 
intellectual  and  spiritual  light,  as  the  pastors  of  the  churches 
are  represented  by  stars  (41),  and  in  the  following  instances: 
'•'  The  moon  shall  be  confounded,  and  the  sun  ashamed  ;  for 
the  Lord  will  reign  in  mount  Zion  (Is.  xxiv.  23),  The  city 
had  no  need  of  the  sun,  neither  of  the  moon,  to  shine  upon 
it ;  for  the  glory  of  God  did  lighten  it,  and  the  Lamb  was  the 
lamp  thereof"  (Rev.  xxi.  23).  Hence  the  darkening  of  the 
sun,  and  the  moon  becoming  as  blood,  and  the  falling  of  the 
stars,  should  signify  the  failure  of  the  greatest  of  merely 
human  luminaries,  the  luridness  of  the  light  which  they  may 
still  give,  and  that  the  lesser  lights  no  longer  shine  as  from 
heaven,  but  have  become  altogether  earthly  and  delusive,  as 
when  science  becomes  materialistic  and  sceptical.  The  part- 
ing asunder  of  the  heaven,  and  its  being  rolled  up  as  a  scroll 
of  parchment,  may  denote  the  passing  away  of  all  former 
conceptions  and  habits  of  thought,  in  order  to  give  place  to 
those  of  the  new  order  of  things  represented  by  the  new 
heavens  (Rev.  xxi.  i)  :  and  the  removal  of  the  mountains 
and  islands  out  of  their  places  by  the  shock  of  the  great 
earthquake,  emphasizes  the  subversion  of  all  things  that  are 
most  fixed  and  stable  in  human  relations  (146),  that  what  is 
symbolized  by  the  new  earth  may  take  their  places.  But 
these  symbols  will  recur  in  subsequent  visions,  where  their 
meaning  will  become  clearer. 


148 


WISDOM  OF  THE  A  FOCAL  YFSE 


Here,  now,  a  question  arises,  whether  these  appalling  phys- 
ical phenomena  are  to  be  understood  as  merely  symbolical, 
or  as  real  cosmical  disturbances  and  convulsions  in  nature. 
I  shall  not  undertake  absolutely  to  decide  this  question, 
upon  which  there  is  certainly  room  for  difference  of  opinion. 
For,  on  one  side,  we  have  the  highly  figurative  and  symbol- 
ical language  of  Scripture  in  general,  especially  of  our 
Lord's  words,  and  of  this  book;  besides  which,  much  similar 
imagery  has,  as  we  have  seen  (i8),  at  least  a  subordinate 
reference  to  the  first  advent  and  to  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem: moreover,  the  literal  parting  asunder  and  rolling  up 
of  the  sky,  which  is  nothing  but  a  void  expanse,  and  the 
literal  falling  of  the  stars,  do  not  seem  to  be  possible  or  con- 
ceivable. But,  on  the  other  side,  we  have  abundant  evidence 
that  there  is  a  close  connection  between  the  moral  and  phys- 
ical worlds,  so  that  they  correspond,  in  some  sort,  and  are 
partakers  of  each  other's  good  and  evil.  For  when  man  was 
created  in  innocence,  there  was  a  Paradise  for  his  abode  ; 
when  he  sinned  and  fell,  there  were  thorns  and  thistles  to 
torment  him.  When  his  descendants  were  morally  ripe  for 
judgment,  there  was  a  deluge  prepared  and  waiting  to 
execute  it  ;  and  so  of  the  destruction  of  Sodom  and  Gomor- 
rah by  a  rain  of  fire  and  brimstone.  When  a  promise  was  to 
be  given  that  the  earth  should  no  more  be  destroyed  by  a 
flood,  there  was  a  rainbow  to  serve  as  its  token  and  seal. 
And,  passing  over  a  multitude  of  similar  correspondences, 
when  the  Lord  was  crucified,  the  heavens  and  the  earth  were 
convulsed  with  signs  and  wonders,  portents  and  prodigies. 

Nor  should  we  lay  too  much  stress  on  the  apparent  impos- 
sibility of  the  phenomena  of  this  vision,  for  it  is  quite  con- 
ceivable that  they  should  be  made  to  appear  as  here 
described.  The  stars  falling  from  heaven,  e.  g.  which  would 
seem  to  be  a  mere  symbol,  may  be  something  more  :  for  all 
those  meteors  called  shooting  stars  are  now  known  to  be  of 
the  same  substance  and  nature  as  the  other  heavenly  bodies; 
and  they  are  immensely  numerous,  so  that  the  great  Kepler 
could  say  'there  were  more  of  them  than  of  fish  in  the 
sea.'     Their  brilliancy,  also,  which  is   caused  by  their  fric- 


HARBINGERS  OF  THE  LAST  JUDGIJENT  i^g 

tion  as  they  move  with  planetary  velocity  through  the  earth's 
atmosphere,  is  like  that  of  the  stars.  Frequently  they  fall 
to  the  earth  as  pyrites  or  so  called  thunder-stones  ;  and 
they  are  incessantly  falling  in  upon  the  sun  in  such  immense 
numbers  that  eminent  scientists  regard  them  as  the  fuel  that 
feeds  its  fires.  Now  it  is  quite  conceivable  that  they  should 
fall  into  the  sun  in  greatly  diminished  numbers,  the  con- 
sequence of  which  would  be  a  great  diminution  of  its  heat 
and  light ;  and  that  they  should  fall  upon  the  earth  in 
vastly  increased  numbers  ;  in  which  case,  the  appearance 
which  they  would  present  to  the  eye  would  be  precisely  that 
of  falling  stars  ;  and  the  necessary  effect  of  their  impact 
upon  the  earth  would  be  its  combustion,  as  in  the  words,  if 
they  are  to  be  taken  literally:  "The  day  of  the  Lord  shall 
come  as  a  thief,  in  which  the  heavens  shall  pass  away  with  a 
great  noise,  and  the  elements  shall  melt  w^ith  fervent  heat  ; 
the  earth,  also,  and  the  works  that  are  therein  shall  be 
burned  up"  (2  Pet.  iii.  10). 

From  such  considerations  as  these,  which  might  be  greatly 
extended,  it  certainly  is  not  irrational  nor  unscriptural  to 
understand  these  physical  phenomena  as  something  more 
than  mere  symbols  or  images,  as  great  cosmical  disorders 
and  convulsions,  such  as  shall  fitly  correspond  with  and 
symbolize  what  will  then  be  taking  place  in  the  moral  world, 
the  description  of  which  immediately  follows. 

15  And  the  kings  of  the  earth  and  the  princes  and  the  chief  cap- 
tains and  the  rich  men  and  the  mighty  men  and  every  bondman  and 
freeman  hid  themselves  in  the  caves  and  in  the  rocks  of  the  mountains  : 
16  and  they  say  to  the  mountains  and  to  the  rocks,  Fall  on  us,  and 
hide  us  from  the  face  of  Him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne  and  from  the 
wrath  of  the  Lamb  ;  17  for  the  great  day  of  His  wrath  is  come,  and 
who  is  able  to  stand  ! 

The  judgments  which  have  just  been  symbolized  in  phys- 
ical phenomena  are  now  represented  as  taking  effect,  awaken- 
ing the  most  appalling  terrors  in  the  unsaved,  being  recog- 
nized as  harbingers  of  'the  day  of  judgment  and  perdition  of 
ungodly  men  '  (2  Pet.  iii.  7).  For  the  people  of  God  are  not 
menM^ned  in  this  connection  for  the  reason,  no  doubt,  that 


150 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


their  safety  amidst  these  judgments  is  a  matter  of  such  im- 
portance that  it  cannot  be  treated  of  incidental'ly,  but  requires 
to  be  set  forth  by  itself  with  all  fulness  and  emphasis,  as  we 
shall  find  it  in  the  next  vision,  the  sealing  of  the  cxliv  thou- 
sand. It  is  the  wicked  alone  who  are  overpowered  by  these 
terrors,  and  the  copious  enumeration  given  is  evidently 
intended  to  include  all  classes  of  them,  but  especially  the 
great  and  mighty  among  the  'earth  dwellers';  although 
none  will  be  too  high  or  too  low  to  be  reached,  for  they  will 
all  seek  to  hide  themselves  from  the  face  of  God  and  from 
the  wrath  of  the  Lamb.  In  what  follows  there  is  a  signifi- 
cant reference  to  the  words  of  the  Lord  as  He  ascended 
mount  Calvary  bearing  His  cross:  "  Daughters  of  Jerusalem, 
weep  not  for  me,  but  weep  for  yourselves  and  for  your  chil- 
dren; for,  behold,  the  days  come  in  which  they  shall  say  .  . 
to  the  mountains,  Fall  on  us,  and  to  the  hills.  Cover  us  " 
(Luke  xxiii.  28-31)  :  wherein  also  we  see  that  what  is  here 
symbolized  began  to  be  fulfilled  in  the  overthrow  of  that 
guilty  city  (20).  In  the  last  words  also  there  is  a  reference 
to  the  prophecy  : 

But  who  may  abide  the  day  of  His  coming  ? 

And  who  shall  stand  when  He  appeareth  ?  (Mai.  iii.  2). 

The  terrible  force  of  the  words,  *  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb,' 
and  *  the  great  day  of  His  wrath,'  'of  their  wrath  '  in  some 
texts,  is  evidently  such  that  no  other  words  can  adequately 
express  it  ;  but  we  must  not  forget  that  they,  like  the  anger, 
vengeance,  jealousy,  and  fury  of  God  are  figures  of  speech 
to  represent  His  justice,  which  is  now  to  be  administered  and 
executed  by  the  Lamb  upon  the  ungodly  world,  who  have 
made  themselves  guilty  of  His  death  by  rejecting  His  mercy 
(144).  For  'the  government  is  laid  upon  His  shoulder'  (91), 
and  "  God  hath  appointed  a  day  in  which  He  will  judge  the 
world  in  justice  by  that  Man  whom  He  hath  ordained  ; 
whereof  He  hath  given  assurance  unto  all  men  in  that  He 
hath  raised  Him  from  the  dead  "  (Acts  xvii.  31). 

Such,  then,  was  the  vision  of  judgment  which  was  seen  by 
the  beloved  disciple,   when   the   sixth   seal   of   the  book  of 


HARBINGERS  OF  THE  LAST  JUDGMENT  151 

God's  secret  purposes  was  opened  by  the  Lamb.  Here 
he  gives  us  to  behold  the  wicked  of  all  classes  stricken 
with  the  most  appalling  terrors,  because  the  great  day  of 
God's  justice  has  come  upon  them.  The  Christ  whom  they 
have  crucified  is  about  to  judge  them,  and  to  require  of  them 
the  sins  of  all  preceding  generations;  for  now  must  be  fulfilled 
His  words  to  the  people  of  His  day:  "  Behold,  I  send  unto  you 
prophets  and  wise  men  and  scribes:  some  of  them  ye  will  kill 
and  crucify,  and  some  of  them  ye  will  scourge  in  your  syna- 
gogues, and  persecute  from  city  to  city;  that  upon  you  may 
come  all  the  righteous  blood  shed  upon  the  earth,  from  the 
blood  of  righteous  Abel  to  the  blood  of  Zachariah  son  of 
Barachiah,  whom  ye  slew  between  the  sanctuary  and  the 
altar:  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  all  these  things  shall  come  upon 
this  generation  "  (Mat.  xxii.  34-36)  (140),  Now,  therefore, 
the  blood  of  all  the  martyrs,  including  that  of  the  martyred 
Christ,  shall  be  fully  avenged.  Now,  the  ancient  wrong 
under  which  the  earth  has  so  long  groaned  shall  be  righted. 
Now  all  the  injustice  of  kings  and  despots,  and  all  the  cor- 
ruptions of  popular  governments  as  well;  all  the  oppressions 
of  the  poor  by  the  rich  and  great,  and  all  the  sins  of  the  poor 
alike,  down  to  the  meanest  slave;  all  the  blood  that  has  been 
shed  in  war,  the  guilt  of  which,  as  murder,  must  rest  some- 
where; all  the  crimes  of  intemperance,  and  all  the  impurities 
of  social  life  ;  all  the  lying,  cheating,  overreaching,  dis- 
honesty in  business;  all  the  sins  of  thought,  word,  and  deed, 
that  have  ever  been  committed:  all  shall  now  be  brought  to 
light,  and  punished  as  they  deserve.  In  vain  now  do  the 
guilty  cry  to  the  mountains  and  rocks  to  fall  on  them,  and 
hide  them  from  the  face  of  Him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne 
and  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb;  for  the  great  day  of  His 
wrath  is  come,  and  who  is  able  to  stand  !  "  Behold,  the  day 
Cometh  that  shall  burn  as  an  oven;  and  all  the  proud,  yea, 
all  that  do  wickedly,  shall  be  as  stubble;  and  the  day  that 
Cometh  shall  burn  them  up"  (Mai.  iv.  i).  Who,  indeed, 
will  be  able  to  stand  in  that  day?  Certainly  not  those  who 
thus  seek  to  hide  themselves  in  the  caves  and  rocks  of  the 
mountains,  but  they  only  who,  in  this  life,  hide  themselves 
in  the  cleft  of  the  Rock  of  Ages. 


XVII 

SEALING    OF   THE   CXLIV   THOUSAND      SAFETY  AND   BLESS- 
EDNESS  OF   THE   ELECT       VH    I-17 

This  vision  seems  best  comprehended  as  a  continuation  of 
the  disclosures  of  the  sixth  seal,  thus  representing  the  safety 
and  blessedness  of  the  people  of  God  in  immediate  contrast 
with  the  judgments  and  terrors  of  the  guilty  world,  as  these 
have  just  been  portrayed  (149).  For  hitherto  in  these  seal- 
openings,  no  mention  has  been  made  of  the  saints,  with  the 
exception  of  the  souls  of  the  martyrs  under  the  altar  (139), 
awaiting  the  judgments  by  which  their  blood  should  be 
avenged  and  their  cause  vindicated  ;  and  now  that  these 
judgments  are  imminent,  what  is  to  become  of  them  in  'the 
great  tribulation  '  ?  (Rev.  vii.  14).  Their  safety  must  be  pro- 
vided for  in  fulfilment  of  the  promise  given  them  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Philadelphian  Church  :  "  Because  thou  hast 
kept  the  word  of  my  patience,  T  also  will  keep  thee  from  the 
hour  of  temptation  which  must  come  upon  the  whole  world  to 
tempt  them  that  dwell  upon  the  earth  "  (94).  This,  then,  is 
the  subject  with  which  this  closing  vision  is  wholly  occupied, 
so  that  nothing  foreign  is  allowed  to  distract  our  attention. 

I  After  this,  I  saw  four  angels  standing  on  the  four  corners  of  the 
earth,  holding  fast  the  four  -winds  of  the  earth,  that  no  wind  should 
blow  upon  the  earth,  nor  upon  the  sea,  nor  against  any  tree. 

These  angels  are  symbolical  representations  of  the  divine 
control  and  direction  of  the  destructive  forces  of  nature, 
which,  indeed,  are  nothing  but  the  energy  of  the  will  of 
God  (ill): 

Who  maketh  winds  His  messengers, 
His  ministers  a  flaming  fire  (Ps.  civ.  4). 
(15^) 


SAFETY  AXD  BLESSEDNESS  OF  THE  ELECT         153 

They  are  four  in  number,  and  they  stand  on  or  at  the  four 
corners  of  the  earth,  as  representing  the  divine  control  of 
these  forces  in  their  totality  (114)  ;  for  winds  are  a  symbol 
of  the  destructive  forces  of  nature,  by  which  the  judgments 
of  God  are  executed,  as  in  the  following  passages  :  "  The 
winds  blew,  and  beat  upon  that  house,  and  it  fell,  and  great 
v.'as  the  fall  of  it  (Mat.  vii.  27).  There  came  a  great  wind 
from  the  wilderness,  and  smote  the  four  corners  of  the  house, 
and  it  fell  upon  the  young  men,  and  they  are  dead  (Job  i.  19). 

Thou  didst  blow  with  thy  wind,  the  sea  covered  them  ; 

They  sank  as  lead  in  the  mighty  waters  (Ex.  xv.  10). 

He  bloweth  upon  them,  and  they  wither, 

And  the  whirlwind  taketh  them  away  as  stubble  "  (Is.  xl.  24). 

Thus  in  these  four  winds  we  have  represented  universal 
storms  of  judgment  as  about  to  come  upon  the  world,  but 
which  must  not  be  let  loose  until  the  Lord's  people  have 
been  placed  in  a  state  of  safety.  The  earth,  the  sea,  and  the 
trees  are  a  comprehensive  symbol  of  human  life  :  the  first, 
of  the  natural  life  of  man  in  general  ;  the  second,  of  nation- 
al life  in  particular  (112)  ;  the  third,  of  spiritual  life,  or  of 
the  want  of  it,  according  as  the  trees  are  fruitful  or  barren. 
But  these  symbols  will  recur  in  the  sequel,  where  their  mean- 
mg  will  more  plainly  appear  (Rev.  viii.  7-9). 

2  And  I  sa'w  another  angel  coming  up  from  the  east,  having  the 
seal  of  the  living  God  :  and  he  cried  with  a  great  voice  unto  the  four 
angels  to  whom  it  was  given  to  hurt  the  earth  and  the  sea,  3  saying, 
Hurt  not  the  earth,  nor  the  sea,  nor  the  trees,  till  we  have  sealed  the 
servants  of  our  God  on  their  foreheads. 

The  beautiful  symbolization  of  the  book  is  here  strikingly 
exemplified,  in  that  this  beneficent  angel  comes  up  from  the 
east,  literally  from  the  rising  of  the  sun,  which  dissipates  the 
gloom  and  terrors  of  night,  and  pours  the  light  of  life  and 
joy  over  the  earth  ;  also,  in  that  he  has  authority  over  the 
angels  of  the  winds,  to  prohibit  them  from  letting  loose  their 
destructive  forces  ;  for,  under  the  mediatorial  government  of 
the  Lamb  (122)  the  powers  of  life  and  good  predominate 
over  those  of  death  and  evil.     Thus  also  in  the  prophet  : 


154  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

"  Behold,  the  glory  of  the  God  of  Israel  came  from  the  v/ay 
of  the  east  .  .  and  the  earth  was  lighted  with  His  glory  "  (Ez. 
xliii.  2).  The  plural  in  the  words,  'till  we  have  sealed,' 
though  but  one  angel  appears  with  the  seal,  may  have  refer- 
ence to  the  Lord's  declaration  :  "  He  will  send  forth  His 
angels,  with  a  great  sound  of  a  trumpet,  and  they  shall 
gather  together  His  elect  from  the  four  winds,  and  from  one 
end  of  heaven  to  the  other"  (Mat.  xxiv.  31).  The  angel  cries 
with  *a  great  voice'  (119)  in  order  that  he  may  be  heard  at 
the  four  corners  of  the  earth,  i,  e.  throughout  the  whole 
world. 

The  meaning  of  this  symbolical  sealing  must  be  gathered 
from  the  uses  of  the  seal,  the  most  important  of  which  is  to 
keep  anything  secret  and  safe,  as  the  exclusive  property  and 
possession  of  him  whose  seal  it  bears,  so  that  no  one  else 
shall  dare  to  appropriate  or  meddle  with  it,  as  in  the  words  : 

Is  not  this  laid  up  in  store  with  me, 

Sealed  up  among  my  treasures  ?  (Deut.  xxxii.  34). 

Hence  those  who  are  here  sealed  with  the  seal  of  the  living 
God  are  thereby  designated  as  His  peculiar  possession,  and 
so  precious  to  Him  that  He  will  by  no  means  suffer  them  to 
be  harmed  by  any  destructive  forces,  all  which  are  obliged 
to  recognize  and  respect  His  seal  ;  so  that  the  sealed  can  say 
with  perfect  assurance  : 

In  the  day  of  trouble  He  will  hide  me  secretly  in  His  pavilion  ; 
In  the  secret  of  His  tabernacle  will  He  hide  me  (Ps.  xxvii.  5). 
Yea,  in  the  shadow  of  thy  wings  will  I  take  refuge, 
Until  calamities  be  overpast  (Ivii.  i). 

The  more  special  significance  of  this  sealing  may  be  seen 
in  the  following  quotations  :  "  The  foundation  of  the  Lord 
standeth  sure,  having  this  seal.  The  Lord  knoweth  them  that 
are  His  (2  Tim.  ii.  19).  Who  hath  given  unto  us  the  earnest 
of  the  Spirit  in  our  hearts  (2  Cor.  i.  22).  In  whom  ye  also, 
having  believed,  have  been  sealed  with  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
promise,  who  is  the  earnest  of  our  inheritance,  for  the  re- 
demption of  safe-keeping  (Eph.  i.  14).  Whereby  ye  are  sealed 
unto  the  day  of  redemption  "  (iv.  30).     Here  the  servants  of 


SAFETY  AND  BLESSEDNESS  OF  THE  ELECT         155 

God  are  sealed  'on  their  foreheads '  as  the  most  conspicuous 
place,  and  to  denote  that  their  noblest  faculties  are  possessed 
and  consecrated  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  Thus  we  see  that  this 
sealing  distinguishes  them  as  the  subjects  of  the  indwelling 
of  the  Spirit  of  the  living  God,  as  His  peculiar  possession, 
and  under  His  guardianship  and  protection.  Hence  this 
great  angel,  who  comes  from  the  source  of  light  and  life, 
with  absolute  authority  over  all  the  destructive  forces,  and 
who  places  this  seal  upon  the  servants  of  God,  must  be  recog- 
nized as  at  least  a  symbolical  representative  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  who  sends  forth  His  Holy  Spirit  into  the  hearts  of  His 
people,  and  thus  seals  them  'for  the  redemption  of  safe- 
keeping.' We  shall  have  hereafter  other  similar  representa- 
tions of  Him  as  the  great  '  Angel  of  the  covenant '  (Mai.  iii.  i). 

4  And  I  heard  the  number  of  the  sealed:  cxliv  thousand  being 
sealed  out  of  all  the  tribes  of  the  sons  of  Israel.  5  Of  the  tribe  of  Ju- 
dah  xii  thousand  were  sealed :  of  the  tribe  of  Reuben  xii  thousand  : 
of  the  tribe  of  Gad  xii  thousand  :  6  of  the  tribe  of  Asher  xii  thousand  : 
of  the  tribe  of  Naphtali  xii  thousand:  of  the  tribe  of  Manasseh  xii 
thousand  :  7  of  the  tribe  of  Simeon  xii  thousand  :  of  the  tribe  of  Levi 
xii  thousand  :  of  the  tribe  of  Issachar  xii  thousand  :  8  of  the  tribe  of 
Zabulon  xii  thousand  :  of  the  tribe  of  Joseph  xii  thousand  :  of  the  tribe 
of  Benjamin  xii  thousand. 

In  this  enumeration  of  the  tribes,  the  order  in  which  they 
are  named  and  other  particulars  are  thought  to  have  some 
significance.  Judah  stands  first,  apparently  for  tw^o  reasons: 
(i)  because  this  tribe  very  early  superseded  that  of  Reuben 
in  the  national  leadership,  and  retained  its  pre-eminence  in 
numbers  and  influence  throughout  the  whole  subsequent 
history;  (2)  because  it  included  the  whole  line  of  the  Lord's 
ancestors.  The  tribe  of  Ephraim  is  not  mentioned  under  its 
proper  name,  but  under  that  of  Joseph,  probably  on  account 
of  its  prominence  in  the  rebellion  and  idolatry  of  'Jeroboam 
the  son  of  Nebat,  who  made  Israel  to  sin  '  (i  Ki.  xiv.  16):  for 
thus  the  unity  of  the  national  and  religious  life  of  the  cove- 
nant people  was  rent  asunder  by  a  most  baleful  schism,  from 
which,  indeed,  it  never  recovered.  The  tribe  of  Levi  does 
not  appear  in  its  true  genealogical  place,  but  far  down  in  the 


156  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

line,  perhaps  to  denote  that  its  peculiar  function  of  the  priest- 
hood has  ceased.  But  what  is  most  remarkable  is,  that  the 
tribe  of  Dan  is  omitted  altogether,  and  its  place  in  the  sacred 
number  xii  is  taken  by  that  of  Manasseh,  one  of  the  two  sons 
of  Joseph  who  were  adopted  by  Jacob  to  become  heads  of 
tribes  (Gen.  xlviii.  5).  This  cannot  be  without  significance, 
for  the  enumeration  of  the  tribes  by  name  seems  to  have  been 
introduced  chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  laying  emphasis  upon 
it.  How  is  it  to  be  accounted  for?  The  only  probable  ex- 
planation that  has  ever  been  suggested  is  the  following:  This 
tribe  very  early  in  its  history  abandoned  its  divine  allotment 
in  the  land  of  Canaan  (Judges  xviii.),  and  settled  within  the 
borders  of  a  sister  tribe,  in  which  it  may  have  been  mostly 
absorbed.  At  that  time,  also,  it  had  apostatized  to  idolatry, 
from  which  it  may  never  have  been  recovered:  and  afterwards 
the  city  of  Dan  was  one  of  the  two  principal  seats  of  the 
worship  of  Jeroboam's  golden  calves.  Hence  we  have  very 
significant  prophecies  concerning  the  fate  of  this  tribe,  such 
as  the  following:  "  They  that  swear  by  the  sin  of  Samaria, 
and  say,  As  thy  god,  O  Dan,  liveth  .  .  even  they  shall  fall, 
and  never  rise  again  "  (Amos  viii.  14).  There  wtis  also  an 
ancient  Jewish  tradition,  that  this  tribe  had  become  extinct 
before  the  time  of  Ezra,  more  than  500  years  before  Christ; 
in  accordance  with  which  it  is  left  out  of  two  of  the  Old 
Testament  genealogies,  although  it  is  mentioned  in  some  of 
the  prophets.  It  may  be,  therefore,  that  it  is  here  regarded 
as  irrecoverably  lost;  and  this  becomes  the  more  probable 
when  we  consider  that  otherwise  there  would  have  been  xiii 
tribes,  instead  of  xii,  the  number  of  absolute  completeness 
(109);  for  that  there  were  and  could  be  but  xii  is  evident  from 
their  being  always  mentioned  as  of  this  number;  also,  from 
the  xii  jewels  in  the  high-priest's  breastplate  and  the  xii  gates 
of  the  New  Jerusalem,  on  both  which  their  names  were  en- 
graved ;  besides  all  which,  we  are  here  expressly  informed 
that  those  here  named  were  '  all  the  tribes  of  the  sons  of  Is- 
rael.' Hence  it  may  well  have  been  under  divine  direction  that 
Israel  was  unconsciously  led  to  adopt  the  two  sons  of  Joseph 
as  heads  of  tribes,  in  order  that  the  sacred  number  xii  miofht 


SAFETY  AND  BLESSEDNESS  OF  THE  ELECT         157 

be  preserved.  Moreover,  it  can  hardly  have  been  a  mere  co- 
incidence, that  there  was  a  similar  apostasy  of  one  of  the  xii 
apostles  of  the  Lord,  in  consequence  of  which  his  name  dis- 
appears, in  like  manner,  from  the  sacred  roll,  and  is  replaced 
by  that  of  St.  Paul;  for  the  choice  of  Matthias  by  lot  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  sanctioned  by  divine  authority  (Acts 
i.  23-26),  since  of  him  we  never  afterwards  hear  one  word: 
and  that  there  could  be  but  xii  apostles  is  also  evident  from 
their  being  always  mentioned  as  of  this  number,  and  from 
the  xii  foundation  stones  of  the  New  Jerusalem  upon  which 
their  names  were  inscribed.  But  in  these  apostasies  of  one 
of  the  tribes  of  Israel  and  of  one  of  the  apostles  of  the  Lord 
we  have  some  of  the  deep  mysteries  of  Providence,  con- 
cerning which  we  can  only  exclaim:  "O  the  depth  both 
of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God  !  How  unsearchable 
are  His  judgments,  and  His  ways  past  finding  out!"  (Rom. 

The  question  now  comes  before  us.  Who  are  these  that 
are  numbered  and  sealed?  nor  is  it  without  difficulty.  Are 
they  a  lin.ited  class  of  the  people  of  God,  or  do  they  include 
them  all  ?  On  the  one  side,  they  are  a  people  numbered  out 
of  the  xii  tribes  of  Israel,  whilst  all  the  saved,  as  we  shall  im- 
mediately see,  are  an  innumerable  multitude  out  of  all  na- 
tions (Rev.  vii.'  9)  ;  also,  in  a  subsequent  vision,  they  are 
called  *  firstfruits  '  (xiv.  4),  as  if  they  preceded  the  ingather- 
ing of  the  full  harvest.  Moreover,  a  class  of  believers  are 
mentioned  elsewhere  as  those  '  who  first  hoped  in  Christ ' 
(Eph.  i.  12),  which  may  be  taken  in  connection  with  'the 
general  assembly  and  church  of  the  firstborn'  (Heb.  xii.  23). 
But,  on  the  other  side,  they  are  spoken  of  as  '  the  servants 
of  God,'  as  if  they  included  all  such;  and  they  are  'sealed 
with  the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise,'  which  certainly  applies  to 
all  true  believers:  and  what  is  of  still  greater  force  is,  that 
this  sealing  is  evidently  intended  to  place  them  in  a  state  of 
security,  so  that  they  shall  not  be  harmed  by  the  impending 
judgments;  but  if  this  applies  only  to  a  limited  number  of  the 
Lord's  people,  what  is  to  become  of  the  rest  ?  Are  they  left  to 
shift  for  themselves  ?    In  fine,  the  xii  tribes,  wherever  they  are 


158  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

introduced  symbolically,  represent  the  whole  church  on  earth, 
including  both  true  and  false  professors,  as  where  St.  James 
writes  to  '  the  xii  tribes  which  are  of  the  dispersion '  (James 
i.  i),  by  which  He  certainly  means  all  professing  Christians 
scattered  throughout  the  world;  and  St.  Paul  also  tells  us 
that  '  they  are  not  all  Israel  who  are  of  Israel '  (Rom.  ix.  6). 
The  whole  church  being  thus  represented,  those  v/ho  are 
sealed  out  of  it  must  be  the  true  Israel  of  God,  and  the  un- 
sealed are  mere  nominal  Christians.  The  number  of  the 
sealed,  xii  taken  a  thousand  times  out  of  each  tribe,  and  the 
deep  involution  of  this  number  in  cxliv  thousand,  represent 
the  absolute  completeness  of  the  elect  church  (109).  The 
best  solution  of  the  acknowledged  difficulties  of  this  inter- 
pretation that  I  can  suggest  is,  that  in  this  part  of  the  vision 
all  true  believers  are  viewed  under  the  sole  aspect  of  then 
being  an  elect  people,  those  who  are  given  by  the  Father 
unto  the  Son  as  the  sure  reward  of  His  redeeming  sacrifice, 
whom  He  recognizes  and  numbers  as  the  sheep  of  His  fold, 
so  that  not  one  of  them  shall  ever  be  lost.  Thus  in  the  fol- 
lowing and  many  similar  declarations :  ''  I  am  the  good 
shepherd,  and  know  mine  own,  and  mine  own  know  me 
(John  X.  14),  And  this  is  the  will  of  Him  who  hath  sent  me, 
that  of  all  whom  He  hath  given  me  I  should  lose  none,  but 
should  raise  them  up  at  the  last  day.  .  .  I  have  manifested 
thy  name  unto  the  men  whom  thou  gavest  me  out  of  the  world 
(vi.  37-39).  Those  whom  thou  gavest  me  I  have  kept.  .  .  I 
guarded  them,  and  not  one  of  them  perished,  but  the  son  of 
perdition,  that  the  Scripture  might  be  fulfilled.  .  ,  Holy 
Father,  keep  in  thy  name  those  whom  thou  hast  given  me  " 
(xvii.  6-13).  Some  of  these  passages,  it  is  true,  have  primary 
reference  to  the  apostles,  but  to  them  certainly  as  represent- 
ing all  the  elect;  and  they  show  what  a  deep  impression  they 
had  made  upon  St.  John's  mind,  and  how  susceptible  he 
would  be  to  such  a  revelation  as  this,  in  which  the  Lord's 
servants  are  viewed  under  the  single  aspect  of  their  being  an 
elect  people,  given  unto  Him  by  the  Father  *  for  the  re- 
demption of  safe-keeping  unto  the  praise  of  His  glory' 
(Eph.  i.  14). 


SAFETY  AND  BLESSEDNESS  OF  THE  ELECT         159 

9  After  these  things,  I  saw,  and,  behold,  a  great  multitude  which 
no  man  could  number,  out  of  every  nation  and  [all]  tribes  and  peoples 
and  tongues,  standing  before  the  throne  and  before  the  Lamb,  arrayed 
in  white  robes  and  palms  in  their  hands  :  10  and  they  cry  with  a  great 
voice,  saying.  The  salvation  be  unto  our  God  who  sitteth  upon  the 
throne  and  unto  the  Lamb. 

We  have  just  seen  the  servants  of  God  symbolically  repre- 
sented as  a  sealed  and  numbered  people  out  of  the  xii 
tribes  of  Israel,  but  here  they  are  presented  under  a  different 
aspect,  yet  one  of  equal  significance,  as  an  innumerable  mul- 
titude out  of  all  nations,  having  passed  safely  through  the 
judgments  upon  the  world,  and  been  received  up  into 
heaven,  where  they  stand  in  the  immediate  presence  of  God 
and  the  Lamb,  to  whom  with  a  great  voice  they  ascribe  the 
salvation  unto  which  they  have  attained.  Thus  it  is  made  to 
appear  that  the  seal  has  effectually  protected  them:  and 
when  it  shall  have  thus  served  its  purpose,  and  they  shall  be 
gathered  together  in  heaven,  then  it  will  be  found  that  they 
have  come  out  of  the  tribes  of  Israel  only  in  a  symbolical 
sense,  but  literally  out  of  all  nations;  and  that  they  are  cxliv 
thousand  in  a  like  sense,  but  that  literally  and  indeed  they 
are  a  multitude  which  no  man  can  number.  Their  white 
robes  are  the  symbol  of  their  purity  and  victory  (85);  this 
latter  idea  being  strengthened  by  the  palm-branches  in  their 
hands,  as  in  the  Roman  poet,  Palmae  pretium  victoribus, 
which  are  significant  also  of  their  festive  joy. 

II  And  all  the  angeb  were  standing  around  the  throne  and  the 
elders  and  the  four  living  creatures,  and  they  fell  upon  their  faces  be- 
fore the  throne,  and  worshipped  God,  12  saying.  Amen ;  the  blessing 
and  glory  and  wisdom  and  thanksgiving  and  honor  and  power  and 
might  be  unto  our  God  forever  and  forever,  amen. 

The  whole  host  of  the  angels  stand  in  the  outmost  circle 
around  the  throne  and  around  the  elders,  their  princes,  and 
around  the  four  living  creatures,  nature,  yet  as  being  so 
deeply  interested  in  the  great  salvation  that  they  fall  upon 
their  faces  worshipping  God,  and  give  their  solemn  'Amen  ' 
to  the  song  of  the  saved;  and  immediately  afterwards,  from 


l6o  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

their  own  angelic  point  of  view,  they  pour  forth  again  their 
sevenfold  doxology  (14);  in  which,  however,  'thanksgiving' 
takes  the  place  of  *  riches  '  in  the  former  one  (124),  because 
the  salvation  is  now  viewed  as  an  accomplished  fact.  For 
this  reason,  also,  as  it  would  seem,  the  worship  of  the  Lamb 
is  here  swallowed  up  in  that  of  God  upon  His  eternal  throne, 
reminding  us  of  St.  Paul's  mysterious  prophecy:  "When  ail 
things  shall  be  subdued  unto  Him,  then  shall  the  Son  also 
Himself  be  subject  unto  Him  that  did  put  all  things  under 
Him,  that  God  may  be  all  in  ail"  (i  Cor.  xv.  28). 

13  And  one  of  the  elders  answered,  saying  unto  me,  These  who 
are  arrayed  in  white  robes,  who  are  they .?  and  whence  come  they  ?  14 
And  I  said  unto  him,  My  Lord,  thou  knowest.  And  he  said  unto 
me,  These  are  they  who  came  out  of  the  great  tribulation  :  and  they 
washed  their  robes,  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb. 
15  Therefore,  are  they  before  the  throne  of  God,  and  serve  Him  day 
and  night  in  His  temple  ;  and  He  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne  will 
spread  His  tabernacle  over  them.  16  They  shall  hunger  no  more, 
neither  thirst  any  more ;  neither  shall  the  sun  strike  on  them,  nor  any 
burning  heat :  17  for  the  Lamb  who  is  in  the  midst  of  the  throne  will 
shepherd  them,  and  lead  them  unto  the  fountains  of  the  waters  of  life  ; 
and  God  will  wipe  away  every  tear  from  their  eyes. 

We  have  here  a  dramatic  scene  of  the  deepest  interest,  in 
which  one  of  the  elders  interprets  to  the  Seer  who  the  white- 
robed  people  are,  and  in  which  their  blessed  estate  is  por- 
trayed in  the.  most  glowing  word-pictures.  For  the  word 
'answered,'  before  any  question  has  been  asked,  pictures  the 
inquiring  wonder  on  St.  John's  face;  and  hence  one  of  the 
crowned  elders  comes  down  from  his  throne  in  the  inmost 
circle  to  satisfy  this  inquiring  wonder,  and  informs  him 
that  these  white-robed  people  are  they  who  have  come  safely 
through  the  great  tribulation,  through  that  'hour  of  temp- 
tation '  (94),  with  reference  to  which  they  had  been  sealed, 
and  had  such  prophecies  as  the  following  :  "  There  shall  be  a 
time  of  trouble,  such  as  there  never  was  since  there  was  a 
nation  .  .  and  at  that  time  thy  people  shall  be  delivered, 
every  one  that  shall  be  found  written  in  the  book  (Dan.  xii. 
I ;.     Then  shall  there  be  a  great  tribulation,  such  as  hath  not 


SAFI-.TY  AiVD  BLESSEDNESS  OF  THE  ELECT         i6i 

been  from  the  beginning  of  the  world.  .  .  .  And  except  those 
days  should  be  shortened,  no  flesh  would  be  saved:  but  for  the 
elect's  sake  those  days  shall  be  shortened  "  (Mat.  xxiv.  21-22). 
Through  all  this  tribulation  of  the  last  times  this  innumer- 
able multitude  have  come  unharmed,  because  they  were 
sealed  with  the  seal  of  the  living  God,  and  had  '  washed  their 
robes,  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  ';  i.  e. 
they  had  purified  themselves  from  sin,  and  had  obtained  the 
victory  over  their  temptations  (85),  through  the  efficacy  of 
the  Lord's  most  holy  sacrifice,  which  is  the  only  possible 
purification  for  defiled  souls.  'Therefore,'  they  now  stand 
before  God,  and  serve  Him  unceasingly  in  His  temple,  i.  e. 
in  the  church  of  the  saved  in  heaven  (95).  Here  He  spreads 
His  tabernacle  over  them,  and  dwells  with  them.  The  sun 
does  not  strike  upon  them,  nor  any  burning  heat,  in  fulfil- 
ment of  the  promise: 

The  sun  shall  not  smite  thee  by  day, 
Nor  the  moon  by  night  (Ps.  cxxi.  6). 

Here  thev  are  exempt  from  hunger  and  thirst,  their  spir- 
itual need  being  fully  satisfied,  because  the  Larnb,  whose 
place  is  in  the  midst  of  the  throne  (120),  is  their  shepherd, 
and  leads  them,  as  His  pure  and  peaceful  flock,  to  the  very 
fountains  of  the  waters  of  life,  which  flow  forth  eternally  out 
of  His  throne  (Rev.  xxii.  i)  :  '*  For  the  good  Shepherd  .  . 
calleth  His  sheep  by  name,  and  leadeth  them  out.  .  .  .  He 
goeth  before  them,  and  the  sheep  follow  Him  (John  x.  1-6). 

The  Lord  is  my  shepherd,  I  shall  not  want ; 

He  maketh  me  to  lie  down  in  g;reen  pastures, 

He  leadeth  me  beside  the  still  waters  "  (Ps.  xxiii.  8). 

In  the  last  of  these  glowing  beatitudes,  there  are  plain 
references  to  the  prophecies:  "  The  Lord  God  will  wipe  away 
tears  from  off  all  faces  (Is.  xxv.  8).  Blessed  are  they  that 
mourn,  for  they  shall  be  comforted  "  (Mat.  v.  4).  For  thus 
the  heavenly  Father  will  wipe  away  all  tears  from  the  eyes 
of  His  beloved  children,  comforting  them  concerning  the 
great  tribulation  through  which  they  have  passed,  '  as  one 
whom  his  mother  comforteth  '  (Is.  Ixvi.  13), 


1 62  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

Such  is  the  assured  safety  of  the  Lord's  people,  while  they 
pass  through  the  judgments  about  to  be  disclosed  in  the 
subsequent  visions,  and  such  is  the  blessedness  to  which  they 
shall  attain,  after  having  passed  through  these  judgments. 
And  this  lovely  picture  is  here  placed  before  us,  not  only  to 
refresh  and  cheer  our  hearts  while  we  are  in  this  'valley  of 
Weeping '  (Ps.  Ixxxiv,  6),  but  also  to  strengthen  us  so  that  we 
may  be  enabled  to  contemplate  without  being  stunned  the 
awful  disclosures  of  the  seventh  seal.  For  in  them  the  judg- 
ments, which  hitherto  have  been  only  foreshadowed,  will  be 
presented  in  ampler  details,  in  more  lurid  lights,  in  darker 
colors.  Meanwhile,  let  us  carry  this  picture  in  our  hearts 
for  our  exceeding  great  and  precious  consolation  ;  bearing 
in  mind  always  that  the  true  service  of  God,  whether  in  this 
life,  or  that  which  is  to  come,  is  one  of  unceasing  activity 
and  usefulness.  For  no  ecstasy  of  vision,  no  entranced  medi- 
tation, no  height  or  fulness  of  revelation,  can  justify  us  for 
neglecting  the  work  of  the  Master,  which  He  has  entrusted 
to  our  hands.  And  let  us  not  fail  to  yield  ourselves  unto 
God,  that  He  may  set  His  seal  upon  our  foreheads,  and 
number  us  with  His  own.  For  without  this  seal,  no  one  will 
be  able  to  pass  in  safety  through  the  great  tribulation,  that 
'hour  of  temptation  which  must  come  upon  all  the  world  to 
tempt  them  that  dwell  upon  the  earth  '  (94).  They  who  shall 
be  found  in  that  hour  without  the  seal  of  the  living  God  will 
surely  suffer  all  the  judgments  and  plagues  which  are  written 
in  this  book. 


XVIII 

THE  SEVENTH  SEAL      THE  JUDGMENTS  OF  GOD  IN  ANSWER 
TO   THE   PRAYERS   OF  THE   SAINTS       VIII    1-6 

In  this  vision  the  very  complex  structure  of  the  book  be- 
gins to  appear.  For  although  the  first  series  of  revelations, 
that  of  the  seven  churches,  is  clearly  divided  from  the  second, 
that  of  the  seven-sealed  roll,  yet  the  third  series,  that  of 
the  seven  trumpets,  commences  here  at  the  opening  of  the 
seventh  seal.  In  like  manner,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  the 
seven  last  plagues  are  evolved  out  of  the  visions  of  the  last 
trumpet.  In  this  way,  the  book  of  God's  purposes  and 
providence  contains,  as  it  ought,  all  the  subsequent  revela- 
tions (ii8).  This  series  of  the  seven  trumpets  is  introduced 
by  a  wonderful  heaven-scene  which  the  Apocalyptist  now 
proceeds  to  describe. 

I  And  when  He  opened  the  seventh  seal,  there  was  silence  in 
heaven  about  half  an  hour. 

The  imagery  of  this  vision  has  a  constant  reference  to  the 
tabernacle  and  temple  service,  especially  to  the  ministry  of 
the  officiating  priest,  when  he  burned  incense  upon  the  golden 
altar  which  stood  in  the  sanctuary  before  the  veil  of  the 
Holy  of  Holies  (Ex.  xxx.  i-io)  ;  within  which,  behind  the 
veil,  was  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  with  its  mercy-seat  of  pure 
gold,  and  the  shekinah  (xxv  10-22),  a  constant  blaze  of 
supernatural  light,  which  represented  the  presence  and  glory 
of  the  God  of  Israel.  For  while  the  priest  was  thus  burning 
incense,  the  people  stood  without  engaged  in  silent  prayer. 
Hence  it  is  said  of  Zachariah,  the  father  of  John  the  Baptist, 
when  he  received  the  prediction  of  the  birth  of  his  illustrious 
son  :  "While  he  executed  the  priest's  office  .  .  his  lot  was  to 

(163) 


164  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

enter  the  sanctuary  of  the  Lord  to  burn  incense,  and  the 
whole  multitude  of  the  people  were  praying  without  at  the 
hour  of  incense  "  (Luke  i.  8-10).  And  it  seems  to  be  in  allu- 
sion to  the  time  usually  occupied  in  this  service  that  this 
half  hour's  silence  in  heaven  is  mentioned  ;  which,  therefore, 
is  to  be  understood  of  the  whole  heavenly  host,  engaged  in 
silent  worship  while  the  priestly  angel  ministers  at  the 
celestial  altar  of  incense  ;  and  this  silence  is  significant  also 
of  the  overpowering  awe  which  they  feel  whilst  the  tremen- 
dous disclosures  of  His  ministry  pass  before  their  eyes. 

2  And  I  saw  the  seven  angels  who  stand  before  God,  and  there 
were  given  unto  them  seven  trumpets. 

The  number  'seven'  here,  as  in  the  case  of  the  seven 
churches,  is  to  be  taken  both  in  its  literal  and  symbolical  im- 
port ("30)  ;  for  doubtless  the  Seer  beheld  seven  angels  with 
seven  trumpets,  but  this  number,  rather  than  any  other,  to 
denote  the  fulness  of  the  judgments  which  they  were  to  an- 
nounce (14).  Whether,  in  fact,  there  are  seven  angels  who 
stand  before  God  in  any  peculiar  sense  cannot  be  determined 
from  this  symbolical  representation,  but  further  light  may 
be  thrown  upon  the  question  in  the  sequel.  The  uses  of  the 
trumpet  among  the  Hebrews  were  many  and  various,  two  of 
which  seem  to  be  alluded  to  here  :  (i)  That  of  calling  a 
solemn  assembly  upon  occasion  of  any  important  transac- 
tion :  "  Blow  the  trumpet  in  Zion,  sanctify  a  fast,  call  a 
solemn  assembly"  (Joel  ii.  15).  Hence  we  may  understand 
that  tliese  trumpeting  angels  are  to  call  an  assembly  of  the 
universe  to  behold  the  awful  spiritual  transactions  which 
are  about  to  take  place  ;  i.  e.  as  we  shall  see,  the  avenging 
of  the  blood  of  the  martyrs,  and  the  vindication  of  their 
cause,  by  the  judgments  of  God  upon  the  guilty  world  (139), 
as  foreshadowed  at  the  opening  of  the  sixth  seal  (149).  (2) 
It  was  at  the  blowing  of  seven  trumpets  for  seven  days 
around  the  city  of  Jericho  that  its  walls  fell,  and  the  people 
of  God  took  possession  of  it  (Josh.  vi.  1-20)  ;  in  allusion  to 
which  the  judgments  of  the  last  times  are  represented  as 
follows  : 


JUDGMENTS  IN  ANSWER   TO  PRA  YER  165 

That  day  is  a  day  of  wrath,  , 

A  day  of  trouble  and  distress, 

A  day  of  wasteness  and  desolation, 

A  day  of  darkness  and  gloominess, 

A  day  of  clouds  and  thick  darkness, 

A  day  of  the  trumpet  and  alarm, 

Against  the  fenced  cities  and  comer  towers  (Zeph.  i.  15-16). 

Hence  we  may  understand,  what  we  shall  find  to  be  so, 
that  the  judgments  upon  the  world  announced  by  these 
trumpets  will  overthrow  its  defences,  and  break  down  its 
opposition  to  the  Lord  and  His  kingdom. 

3  And  another  angel  came  and  stood  over  the  altar,  having  a 
golden  censer  ;  and  there  •was  given  unto  him  much  incense,  that  he 
should  add  it  to  the  prayers  of  all  the  saints  upon  the  golden  altar 
which  w^as  before  the  throne  ;  4  and  the  smoke  of  the  incense,  with  the 
prayers  of  the  saints,  went  up  before  God  out  of  the  angel's  hand. 

Upon  the  golden  altar  of  the  tabernacle  incense  was 
burned,  or  fumed,  every  morning  and  evening.  Once  a 
year,  also,  the  high  priest  took  a  censer,  filled  it  with  fire 
apparently  from  this  altar,  and,  having  a  handful  of  incense, 
went  into  the  Holy  of  Holies,  and  there  sprinkled  the  in- 
cense upon  the  fire  in  the  censer,  so  that  its  smoke  went  up 
from  his  hand  before  the  glory  of  God  over  the  mercy  seat 
(Lev.  xvi.  12-13).  This  incense  was  composed  of  the  most 
costly  and  precious  spices  (Ex.  xxx.  34-38).  How  striking 
and  significant  are  the  allusions  to  all  this  in  the  vision 
which  is  here  made  to  pass  before  our  eyes  !  For  no  one 
who  has  paid  any  attention  to  the  symbols  of  this  book,  or 
to  those  of  the  Mosaic  ritual,  can  have  a  doubt  but  that 
every  one  of  these  particulars  is  loaded  with  significance. 
But  what  do  they  mean  ?  What  is  signified  by  the  incense, 
by  its  being  consumed  with  fire,  by  its  being  added  to  the 
prayers  of  the  saints,  by  its  smoke  going  up  with  these 
prayers  out  of  the  angel's  hand,  and  who  is  this  angel  that 
offers  it?  These  questions  throw  so  much  light  upon  each 
other  that  it  is  hard  to  decide  which  should  be  answered 
first.  For  this  altar  was  the  altar  of  prayer,  and  it  was  of 
gold  to  signify  the  preciousness  of  the  prayers  of  the  saints, 
as  we  have  seen  them  represented  by  golden  chalices  full  of 


1 66  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

incense  (123).  The  incense  offered  upon  it  signified  these 
prayers  in  a  general  way,  as  in  the  Psalmist : 

Let  my  prayer  be  set  forth  before  thee  as  incense, 

And  the  lifting  up  of  my  hands  as  the  evening  oblation  (Ps.  cxli.  2). 

But  more  particularly  and  precisely  it  represented  what  ren- 
ders the  prayers  of  the  saints  acceptable  and  prevalent  with 
God.  Yet  it  was  inefficacious  for  this  purpose  until  it  was 
consumed  by  fire,  which  caused  its  smoke  and  perfume  to  go 
up  before  God  :  it  was  the  consuming  fire  which  gave  it  all 
its  efficacy,  just  as  the  sacrifices  of  the  bfezen  altar,  which 
stood  in  the  court  of  the  tabernacle,  were  inefficacious  to 
make  atonement  for  sin  until  they  were  consumed  by  fire  : 
and  in  both  cases,  as  throughout  this  book,  fire  is  the  symbol 
of  the  justice  of  God  (36).  Hence,  as  all  interpreters  agree, 
this  incense,  both  in  the  tabernacle  service,  and  as  offered 
by  the  angel  here,  represents  the  righteousness,  merits,  and 
intercession  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  His  atoning  sacri- 
fice, as  giving  all  their  efficacy  to  the  prayers  of  His  people. 
Hence  it  is  here  said  to  be  'much'  in  quantity,  and  to  be 
'added'  or  given  to  these  prayers,  to  signify  the  abundance 
of  His  merit,  and  that  it  imparts  unto  them  an  all-prevail- 
ing power.  Consequently  the  angel  who  offers  this  incense 
has  been  commonly  recognized  as  the  Lord  in  person.  But 
with  this  interpretation  I  cannot  concur,  and  that,  for  two 
reasons:  (i)  He  is  called  'another  angel,'  and  I  can  conceive 
of  no  good  reason  why  the  Lord  of  glory  should  be  so 
designated;  (2)  We  have  seen  the  princes  of  the  angelic 
host  offering  the  prayers  of  the  saints,  as  golden  chalices  full 
of  incense,  unto  the  Lamb  (123).  Yet  he  who  ministers  at 
this  heavenly  altar  may  properly  be  regarded  as  a  symbolical 
representative  of  the  Lord  in  His  character  of  the  great 
'  Angel  of  the  covenant,'  as  He  has  appeared  before  (155), 
which  is  enough  surely  to  render  the  whole  representation 
exceedingly  precious,  as  it  has  ever  been,  to  all  praying 
souls. 

In  the  light  of  this  angelic  ministry  with  respect  to  the 
prayers  of  the  saints,  we  may  now  recur  to  the  expression. 


JUDGMENTS  IN  ANSWER  TO  ERA  YER  167 

'the  seven  angels  who  stand  before  God'  (164),  by  which 
the  trumpeters  are  characterized,  and  which  has  a  precision 
that  can  hardly  be  without  significance.  For  it  may  pos- 
sibly refer  to  some  genuine  revelation  which  has  not  come 
down  to  us  in  our  canonical  Scriptures,  such  as  the  following 
from  the  apocryphal  book  of  Tobit :  "  I  am  Raphael,  one  of 
the  seven  holy  angels  who  carry  up  the  prayers  of  the  saints, 
and  who  enter  into  the  presence  of  the  glory  of  the  Holy 
One "  (Tobit  xii.  15)  :  besides  which,  we  have  seen  the 
angelic  Thrones  and  Dominions,  and  here  we  see 'another 
angel,'  offering  the  prayers  of  the  saints  unto  God  :  from  all 
which  we  may  gather  perhaps  that  angels  have  a  ministry 
with  respect  to  these  prayers  beyond  what  we  commonly 
ascribe  to  them,  and  which  may  be  thus  obscurely  intimated 
to  guard  us  against  the  prevalent  temptation  to  worship 
them. 

5  And  the  angel  took  the  censer,  and  filled  it  with  the  fire  of  the 
altar,  and  cast  it  upon  the  earth  ;  and  there  follow^ed  thunders  and 
voices  and  lightnings  and  earthquake.  6  And  the  seven  angels  that 
had  the  seven  trumpets  prepared  themselves  to  sound  their  trumpets. 

There  seems  to  be  an  allusion  here  to  an  apocalyptic 
vision  of  one  of  the  Old  Testament  prophets  in  which  the 
command  is  given  :  "  Go  in  between  the  wheels  under  the 
cherub,  and  fill  both  thy  hands  with  coals  of  fire  from 
between  the  cherubim,  and  scatter  them  over  the  city"  (Ez. 
X.  2).  But  there  are  differences,  for  this  censer  is  the  same 
from  which  the  incense,  with  the  prayers  of  the  saints,  has 
just  gone  up  before  God,  and  this  fire  is  taken  from  the  altar 
of  prayer,  to  denote  that  the  divine  justice  is  now  about  to 
take  effect,  in  answer  to  these  prayers,  for  the  avenging  of 
the  blood  of  the  martyrs,  and  the  purification  of  human  life, 
of  which  last  the  earth  is  the  constant  symbol  (153).  The 
thunders  and  voices  and  lightnings  are  to  be  understood  as 
proceeding  out  of  the  throne,  and  as  representing  the  forces 
of  nature  (iii);  the  earthquake,  or  universal  trembling, 
being  that  of  the  sixth  seal  ( 146  ■.  But  here  these  fo  ces  are 
represented  as  excited  to  preternatural  destructiveness  by 


1 68  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

the  fire  of  divine  justice ;  and  thus  in  their  quickened 
activity  they  symbolize  the  perturbations  and  convulsions 
which  are  produced  by  these  judgments  in  human  life,  when 
God  sends  them  forth  to  vindicate  His  people.  The  same 
view  is  presented  by  the  Psalmist  in  the  following  picture  : 

In  my  distress  I  called  upon  the  Lord, 

And  cried  unto  my  God  : 

He  heard  my  voice  out  of  His  temple, 

And  my  cry  came  before  Him  into  His  ears. 

Then  the  earth  shook  and  trembled, 

The  foundations  also  of  the  mountains  moved. 

And  were  shaken  because  He  was  wroth. 

There  went  up  a  smoke  out  of  His  nostrils, 

And  fire  out  of  His  mouth  devoured  : 

Coals  were  kindled  by  it 

He  bowed  the  heavens  also  and  came  down  ; 

And  thick  darkness  was  under  His  feet. 

And  He  rode  upon  a  cherub  and  did  fly  ; 

Yea,  He  flew  swiftly  upon  the  wings  of  the  wind. 

He  made  darkness  His  hiding  place, 

His  pavilion  round  about  Him  ; 

Darkness  of  waters,  thick  clouds  of  the  skies. 

At  the  brightness  before  Him  His  thick  clouds  passed, 

Hailstones  and  coals  of  fire. 

The  Lord  also  thundered  in  the  heavens, 

And  the  Most  High  uttered  His  voice. 

Hailstones  and  coals  of  fire. 

And  He  sent  out  His  arrows,  and  scattered  them  ; 

Yea,  lightnings  manifold,  and  discomfited  them. 

Then  the  channels  of  the  waters  were  seen, 

And  thf-  foundations  of  the  world  were  discovered, 

At  thy  rebuke,  O  Lord, 

At  the  blast  of  the  breath  of  Thy  nostrils. 

He  sent  from  on  high.  He  took  me. 

He  drew  me  out  of  great  waters  (Ps.  xviii.  6-17). 

All  that  is  thus  foreshadowed  will  be  fully  realized  when 
these  seven  angels,  who  have  now  placed  their  trumpets  to 
their  lips,  shall  blow  their  fearful  blasts. 

But  that  which  is  most  wonderful  in  all  this,  and  which 
the  'idyllic'  sentimentalism  of  our  time  seems  to  have  quite 
lost  sight  of,  is,  that  the  divine  judgments  are  represented  as 
coming  upon  the  world  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of  the  saints. 
In  order  to  understand  this,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  the 


JUDGMENTS  IN  ANSWER  TO  PR  A  YER  169 

great  burden  of  these  prayers  is  that  the  Lord's  kingdom 
may  come;  but  it  cannot  come  in  all  its  fulness  otherwise 
than  by  means  of  these  judgments,  as  in  a  multitude  of 
prophecies: 

He  will  judge  among  the  nations, 

He  will  fill  the  places  wiih  dead  bodies  (Ps.  ex.  6). 

He  will  wound  the  heads  over  many  countries.  .  .  . 

He  will  declare  judgment  unto  the  Gentiles.  .  .  . 

He  wUl  send  forth  judgment  unto  victory  ; 

And  in  His  name  shall  the  Gentiles  trust  (Mat.  xii.  1&-21). 

Moreover,  that  the  coming  of  His  kingdom  necessarily  im- 
plies great  and  sore  judgments  upon  the  world;  that  at  every 
stage  of  its  progress  there  must  be  a  corresponding  stage  of 
judgment;  this  is  exemplified  in  the  whole  history  of  the 
church  and  the  world, 

1.  There  was  such  a  judgment  in  the  Noachian  deluge. 
And  how  importunately  the  few  saints  in  those  days  must 
have  prayed  that  God  would  bring  to  an  end  that  abounding 
wickedness  !  What  incessant  prayers  must  they  have  offered 
up  that  He  would  hasten  the  fulfilment  of  the  only  promise 
they  seem  to  have  had,  that  '  the  Seed  of  the  woman  should 
crush  the  serpent's  head  '  !  (Gen.  iii.  15).  But  when  the  time 
came  that  some  answer  could  be  given  to  these  prayers,  that 
answer  was  by  a  flood  upon  the  ungodly,  which  'took  them 
all  away'  (Mat.  xxiv.  39),  and  ushered  in  the  dispensation  of 
the  rainbow. 

2.  How  was  the  deliverance  of  the  covenant  people  from 
the  bondage  in  Egypt  effected  ?  We  know  how  they  cried 
unto  God  for  such  deliverance,  until  He  heard  their  cries, 
and  came  down  upon  their  cruel  taskmasters  with  great  and 
sore  judgments,  even  to  the  cutting  off  of  their  children, 
'  from  the  firstborn  of  Pharaoh  upon  the  throne  to  the  first- 
born of  the  captive  in  the  dungeon  '  (Ex.  xii.  29).  All  this  is 
familiar  as  a  household  tale:  it  is  only  the  principle  which  it 
represents  that  is  so  strangely  left  out  of  mind. 

3.  We  know  also  by  what  a  vast  series  of  prophecies  the 
advent  of  the  Lord  was  heralded;  what  glowing  expectations 
they  awakened;  how  it  was  the  object  of  unceasing  prayer; 


1 70  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

and  what  warnings  were  given  that  it  would  be  a  day  of  the 
most  searching  judgments.  But  all  these  warnings  were  in 
vain  ;  for  when  He  came,  it  was  with  such  overwhelming 
judgments  as  swept  away  at  least  a  million  of  the  people, 
destroyed  their  holy  city  and  temple,  and  scattered  the  sur- 
vivors over  the  world  without  a  country  or  nationality,  as 
they  remain  to  this  day. 

4.  And  American  slavery,  its  overthrow  was  longed  and 
prayed  for  during  several  generations,  not  only  by  the  slaves 
themselves,  but  also  by  the  people  of  God  throughout  the 
world.  How  were  these  prayers  answered  ?  Why,  by  the 
judgment  of  a  fearful  rebellion  and  civil  war,  in  which  prop- 
erty to  the  amount  of  thousands  of  millions  was  destroyed, 
and  not  less  than  a  million  of  human  beings  perished. 

Thus  has  it  ever  been,  and  thus,  as  we  are  here  admonished, 
will  it  continue  to  be  unto  the  final  consummation.  The  es- 
tablishment of  the  Lord's  kingdom  means  judgment  upon 
the  evil  that  is  in  the  world,  and  upon  all  who  identify  them- 
selves with  that  evil.  Even  in  individual  souls,  its  coming 
means  judgment;  for  every  one  of  His  people  must  be  cruci- 
fied with  Him  and  die  unto  self,  the  world,  and  sin,  in  order 
to  be  raised  with  Him  unto  the  new  life  of  self-sacrifice  and 
self-consecration  to  God.  For  it  is  thus,  and  not  otherwise, 
that  He  sends  forth  His  judgment  unto  victory  over  the  evil 
that  is  in  the  world. 


XIX 


THE    FIRST    FOUR    TRUMPETS        JUDGMENTS    UPON    NATU- 
RAL   POLITICAL    INTELLECTUAL   AND    SPIRITUAL    LIFE 

VIII  7-12 

The  first  four  trumpets  correspond  in  several  particulars 
to  the  first  four  seals:  especially  in  that  they  constitute  a 
series  or  class  by  themselves;  in  that  they  are  of  a  different 
order  of  symbols  from  the  three  following  (127);  and  in  that 
the  judgments  in  both  are  connected  with  the  natural  forces. 
But  there  are  important  differences  :  for  in  the  seals,  the 
plagues  of  war,  famine,  pestilence,  and  wild  beasts  are  in- 
flicted by  means  of  these  forces,  including  the  agency  of  man, 
in  their  normal  and  uniform  operations,  in  the  regular  course 
of  nature;  whereas  in  the  trumpets  these  forces  are  excited 
to  preternatural  destructiveness  by  the  fire  of  divine  justice 
cast  upon  the  earth  (167),  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of  the 
saints  that  the  Lord's  kingdom  may  come,  and  to  avenge 
the  blood  of  the  martyrs  (143).  Hence  these  judgments  are 
much  more  severe  than  those,  extending  to  one-third,  in 
place  of  one-fourth,  of  that  upon  which  they  fall,  and  to  the 
spiritual  as  well  as  the  natural  life  of  man,  which  before  was 
prohibited  (131).  Yet  even  this  must  be  understood  to  have 
a  benevolent  object,  as  a  necessary  means,  in  the  mysterious 
providence  of  God,  unto  the  final  subjugation  of  the  rebellious 
world.  Still  another  important  difference  is,  that  in  those 
seab  the  judgments  stand  for  what  they  are  in  themselves; 
the  things  which  take  place  in  nature  are  themselves  the 
plagues  ;  whereas  in  these  trumpets  the  disturbances  and 
convulsions  described  are  symbolical  of  analogous  convul- 
sions in  the  life  of  mankind.  These  judgments,  moreover, 
are  to  be  comprehended  as  a  further  unfolding  in  particulars 

(171) 


1/2 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


of  what  follows  from  the  angel's  casting  the  fire  of  the  altar 
of  prayer  upon  the  earth  (167),  and  of  the  phenomena  of  the 
sixth  seal  (146). 

7  And  the  first  [angel]  sounded  his  trumpet :  and  there  followed 
hail  and  fire  mingled  with  blood,  and  they  were  cast  upon  the  earth : 
and  a  third  part  of  the  earth  w^as  burned  up  ;  and  a  third  part  of  the 
trees  was  burned  up  ;  and  all  the  green  grass  was  burned  up. 

There  is  here  a  significant  reference  to  the  seventh  Egyp- 
tian plague:  "  The  Lord  sent  thunder  and  hail,  and  fire  ran 
down  unto  the  earth:  and  the  Lord  rained  hail  upon  the  land 
of  Egypt:  so  there  was  hail,  and  fire  mingled  with  the  hail, 
very  grievous.  .  .  .  And  the  hail  smote  throughout  all  the 
land  of  Egypt  all  that  was  in  the  field,  both  man  and  beast; 
and  the  hail  smote  every  herb  of  the  field,  and  broke  every 
tree  of  the  field.  Only  in  the  land  of  Goshen,  where  the  sons 
of  Israel  were,  was  there  no  hail  "  (Ex.  ix.  23-26).  The  com- 
bination of  hail  and  fire  reminds  us  that  extreme  cold  scorches 
vegetation  like  fire.  Other  effects  of  the  hail  are  not  men- 
tioned here,  yet  they  are  implied,  predominance  being  given 
to  the  fire  for  reasons  that  will  presently  appear.  In  this 
plague  the  hail  and  fire  are  mingled  with  blood,  apparently 
that  of  the  martyrs  ;  for  all  martyr  blood  falls  upon  the 
world  in  the  sense  in  which  the  crucifiers  of  the  great  Head- 
Martyr  cried  out  :  "  His  blood  be  upon  us  and  upon  our 
children  "  (Mat.  xxvii.  25).  But  whence  is  this  fire?  Evi- 
dently from  the  altar  of  prayer  in  heaven,  from  which  it  has 
been  taken  by  the  angel,  and  cast  upon  the  earth  (167);  for 
what  appeared  in  his  hand  as  but  a  censer  full  of  coals  has 
become  to  those  upon  whom  it  falls  a  hailstorm  of  fire. 
Under  this  judgment  a  third  part  of  the  earth  is  burned  up; 
which  signifies  that  a  third  part  of  mankind  perishes,  for  the 
earth  is  the  constant  symbol  of  man's  natural  life  (153);  yet, 
neither  here  nor  in  what  follows,  is  this  third  part  to  be  rigor- 
ously taken,  but  rather  in  the  general  sense  of  a  very  large 
proportion.  A  third  part  of  the  trees,  also,  is  burned  up; 
and  trees  are  a  common  symbol  of  human  beings  with 
respect  to  spiritual  life;  fruitful  trees,  of  the  possessors  of 
true  piety,  as  in  the  following: 


JUDGMENTS  UPON  FOUR  FORMS  OF  LIFE  173 

And  he  shall  be  like  a  tree  planted  by  the  water-courses, 

That  bringeth  forth  its  fruit  in  its  season  (Ps.  i.  3). 

That  they  might  be  called  trees  of  righteousness, 

The  planting  of  the  Lord,  that  He  might  be  glorified  (Is.  xU.  3)  : 

and  barren  trees,  with  nothing  but  leaves,  of  professors  with- 
out piety,  as  in  our  Lord's  parable  of  the  Barren  Fig  Tree 
(Luke  xiii.  6-9),  and  where  they  are  called:  ''Autumn  trees 
without  fruit,  twice  dead,  and  plucked  up  by  the  roots " 
(Jude  12).  Hence  what  is  here  signified  is,  that  under  this 
judgment  a  third  part  of  the  members  of  the  church  are  cut 
off.  It  is  to  be  carefully  observed  that,  not  barely  a  third, 
but  all  of  the  green  grass  is  burned  up;  for  grass  is  a  Scrip- 
tural symbol  of  the  wicked: 

When  the  wicked  spring  as  g^rass, 
And  when  all  the  workers  of  iniquity  do  flourish  ; 
It  is  that  they  shall  be  destroyed  forever  (Ps.  xcii.  7). 
For  they  shall  soon  be  cut  down  like  the  grass, 
And  wither  like  the  green  herb  (xxxvii.  2). 

Thus  we  see  that  under  this  judgment  all  the  wicked  do 
perish  sooner  or  later,  in  fulfilment  of  all  the  prophecies  con- 
cerning them,  such  as  the  following  :  "  As  the  tares  are  gath- 
ered up,  and  burned  with  fire,  so  shall  it  be  in  the  end  of  the 
world  :  the  Son  of  Man  will  send  forth  His  angels,  and  they 
shall  gather  out  of  His  kingdom  all  things  that  offend,  and 
them  that  do  iniquity,  and  shall  cast  them  into  the  furnace 
of  fire  "  (Mat.  xiii.  41-42).  As  to  the  historical  events  here 
contemplated,  they  evidently  belong  to  the  close  of  the  dis- 
pensation, but  not  in  any  such  sense  as  to  exclude  pre- 
cursory judgments;  nor  are  they  to  be  regarded  as  altogether 
prior  or  subsequent  to  those  of  the  other  trumpets. 

8  And  the  second  angel  sounded  his  trumpet :  and,  as  it  were,  a 
great  mountain  burning  with  fire  was  cast  into  the  sea ;  and  a  third 
part  of  the  sea  became  blood  ;  9  and  a  third  part  of  the  creatures 
that  were  in  the  sea,  and  had  life,  died  ;  and  a  third  part  of  the  ships 
was  destroyed. 

This  mountain  is  pictured  as  having  become  a  burning 
mass  by  the  fire  from  the  altar  of  prayer,  rained  upon  the 


174 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


earth  (167);  as  uprooted  and  cast  into  the  sea  by  the  earth- 
quake that  followed,  by  which  *  every  mountain  and  island 
were  moved  out  of  their  place'  (146):  and  mountains  are  a 
common  symbol  of  what  is  most  stable  in  the  conditions  of 
human  life  : 

Who  by  His  strength  setteth  fast  the  mountains  (Ps.  Ixv.  6). 

Therefore  will  not  we  fear,  though  the  earth  do  change, 

And  though  the  mountains  be  moved  into  the  midst  of  the  seas  xlvi.  2). 

The  sea  itself  is  the  constant  symbol  of  national  life  in  its 
stormy  agitations  (11 2  J,  as  in  the  following:  ''A  great  nation 
.  .  their  voice  roareth  like  the  sea  (Jer.  vi.  22-23).  There 
shall  be  .  .  distress  of  nations  in  perplexity,  the  sea  and 
the  waves  roaring  (Luke  xxi.  24-25).  The  waters  which 
thou  sawest  .  .  are  peoples  and  multitudes  and  nations  and 
tongues"  (Rev.  xvii.  15).  Hence  the  creatures  in  the  sea 
must  be  taken  to  signify  political  organizations  ;  and  the 
ships  to  represent  cities  or  municipalities,  as  where  the  city 
of  Tyre  is  symbolized  by  a  ship:  "  Thy  rowers  have  brought 
thee  into  great  waters:  the  east  wind  hath  broken  thee  in  the 
midst  of  the  seas.  .  .  .  Thy  mariners  and  thy  pilots  .  .  .  shall 
fall  into  the  midst  of  the  seas  in  the  day  of  thy  ruin  "  (Ez. 
xxvii.  26).  Hence  this  burning  mountain,  shaken  from  its 
foundations  by  the  shock  of  the  earthquake  and  precipitated 
into  the  midst  of  the  sea,  whereby  its  waters  become  deeply 
tinged  with  blood,  and  a  great  proportion  of  the  living  crea- 
tures and  of  the  ships  perish,  is  to  be  understood  as  repre- 
senting that  whatever  is  most  stable  in  man's  earthly  life  is 
thrown  into  confusion,  national  organizations  are  subverted, 
cities  and  municipalities  are  overthrown,  and  the  political 
world  is  deluged  in  blood.  But  here  again  the  historical 
realization  of  this  judgment  is  not  to  be  limited  to  the  close 
of  the  dispensation  in  any  such  sense  as  to  exclude  similar 
commotions  whenever  they  may  occur. 

10  And  the  third  angel  sounded  his  trumpet :  and  there  fell  from 
heaven  a  great  star  burning  as  a  torch ;  and  it  fell  upon  a  third  part 
of  the  rivers,  and  upon  the  fountains  of  waters:  11  and  the  name  of 
the  star  is  called  Wormwood  ;  and  a  third  part  of  the  waters  became 
wormwood ;  and  much  people  died  of  the  waters,  because  they  were 
made  bitter. 


JUDGMENTS  UPON  FOUR  FORMS  OF  LIFE  175 

In  the  vision  of  the  sixth  seal,  we  have  seen  'the  stars  fall- 
ing from  heaven,  as  a  fig-tree  casteth  her  untimely  fruit, 
when  she  is  shaken  by  a  great  wind,'  in  the  sense  that  sub- 
ordinate intellectual  luminaries  cease  to  shine,  as  it  were 
from  heaven,  and  become  earthly  and  delusive  (147);  but 
here  we  have  one  great  burning  star  falling  from  heaven 
upon  the  rivers  and  fountains,  by  which  it  should  seem  that 
Satan  is  meant,  for  in  the  next  vision  we  shall  find  him  un- 
mistakably symbolized  as  a  star  that  had  fallen  from  heaven. 
Fountains  and  livers  are  a  chosen  symbol  of  the  sources  and 
streams  of  spiritual  life,  with  special  reference  to  the  truth 
of  God,  in  which  that  life  originates,  by  which  also  it  is 
nourished  and  perfected,  as  in  our  Lord's  conversation  with 
the  woman  at  the  well  of  Samaria  (John  iv.  5-15),  in  the 
promise  that  'the  Lamb  would  lead  His  saved  people  to  the 
fountains  of  the  waters  of  life'  (Rev.  vii.  17),  and  in  'the 
river  of  the  water  of  life  flowing  forth  out  of  the  throne  of 
God  and  the  Lamb  '  (xxii.  i).  Hence  we  see  here  the  agency 
of  Satan  corrupting  the  truths  of  the  gospel,  and  spiritual 
life  as  depending  upon  them,  by  false  doctrines  and  fatal 
heresies;  the  destructive  influence  of  which  is  emphasized  by 
the  name  of  the  star  'Wormwood,'  and  by  the  bitterness  of 
the  waters  :  all  which  is  interpreted  in  the  statement,  that 
much  people,  literally  '  many  of  the  men,'  died  of  these  bit- 
ter waters,  by  which  spiritual  death  must,  of  course,  be  un- 
derstood. As  a  partial  fulfilment  of  this  prophecy,  we  have 
the  heresies  of  gnosticism,  Sabellianism,  Eutychianism,  Ari- 
anism,  Pelagianism,  Socinianism,  Spiritualism,  and  many 
others,  by  which  the  waters  of  life  have  been  and  still  are 
fearfully  corrupted  and  poisoned;  all  which  are  here  repre- 
sented as  judicial  inflictions.  Whether  yet  worse  than  these 
are  to  be  anticipated  in  the  last  times,  the  future  will  decide. 

12  And  the  fourth  angel  sounded  his  trumpet :  and  a  third  part  of 
the  sun  was  smitten,  and  a  third  part  of  the  moon,  and  a  third  part 
of  the  stars;  that  a  third  part  of  them  should  be  darkened;  and  the 
day  should  not  shine  for  a  third  part  of  it,  and  the  night,  in  like  manner. 

The  imagery  here,  as  in  the  previous  trumpets,  diverges 
considerably  from  that  of  the  sixth  seal,  but  apparently  for 


1/6 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


the  purpose  only  of  expressing  different  shades  of  the  same 
ideas  (146).  This  darkening  of  the  heavenly  bodies  may  be 
conceived  of  as  either  local  or  dynamical,  i.  e.  as  an  obscur- 
ation of  a  third  part  of  their  disks,  or  as  a  suppression  of  a 
third  part  of  their  light.  It  is  not  quite  certain  which  is  in- 
tended, nor  is  it  a  matter  of  any  importance  in  such  a  sym- 
bolical representation.  We  have  here,  however,  another  point 
in  which  these  trumpets  correspond  to  the  first  four  seals, 
namely,  in  that  the  three  preceding  supply  us  with  a  key  to 
the  fourth  (135).  For  since  we  have  seen  a  blight  falling 
upon  (i)  the  natural  life  of  man  in  general,  (2)  his  political 
and  municipal  organizations,  (3)  his  spiritual  life,  noth- 
ing remains  to  be  blighted  but  (4)  his  intellectual,  moral, 
and  spiritual  light,  of  the  sources  and  supplies  of  which  the 
heavenly  bodies  are  the  recognized  symbols  (147).  Such  a 
darkening  of  this  light,  moreover,  would  necessarily  result 
from  the  blight  upon  life,  for  '  the  life  is  the  light  of  men  ' 
(John  i.  4).  Hence,  as  in  the  preceding  trumpet  the  sources 
and  streams  of  life  are  poisoned,  so  in  this  one  the  common 
and  mediate  luminaries  of  the  world  are  darkened,  the  greater 
and  lesser  lights  are  obscured;  i.  e.  men  of  eminent  genius 
and  piety  are  wanting,  and  inferior  minds  give  out  even  less 
than  their  accustomed  light.  A  great  many  prophecies  refer 
to  this  judgment,  of  which  the  following  are  examples  : 

I  will  cover  the  sun  with  a  cloud, 

And  tlie  moon  shall  not  give  her  light : 

All  the  bright  lights  of  heaven  will  I  make  dark  over  thee ; 

And  I  will  set  darkness  upon  thy  land,  saith  the  Lord  God  (Ez.  xxxii.  7-8). 

There  shall  not  be  light ; 

The  bright  ones  shall  contract  themselves  .  .  . 

Not  day  nor  night  (Zech.  xiv.  6-7). 

As  to  the  realization  of  this  judgment  in  the  history  of  the 
church  and  the  world,  we  have  had  the  '  dark  ages '  from  the 
fifth  century  to  the  fifteenth;  and  we  may  have  much  more 
of  similar  darkness  in  the  last  times,  before  all  the  blood  of 
the  martyrs  shall  be  fully  avenged,  and  their  cause  vindi- 
cated. 

One  of  the  many  lessons  of  these  four  trumpets,  taken  in 


JUDGMENTS  UPON  FOUR  FORMS  OF  LIFE  lyy 

connection  with  the  preceding  vision  of  the  fire  of  the  altar 
of  prayer  cast  upon  the  earth  (167),  and  with  that  of  the 
souls  of  the  martyrs  under  the  altar  of  burnt  sacrifices  (139), 
is  the  tremendous  significance  of  the  martyrology  of  the 
church.  All  Christians  ought  to  be  well  acquainted  with  it. 
For  it  was  through  the  sacrifice  of  those  witnesses  for  the 
Lord  and  His  cause  who  counted  not  their  lives  dear  unto 
themselves,  but  sealed  their  testimony  with  their  blood, 
that  the  gospel  and  the  Christian  religion  have  come  down 
to  us,  and  that  we  enjoy  the  priceless  blessings  of  what  is,  at 
least  in  some  sort,  a  Christian  civilization.  We  think  too  little 
of  all  this,  and  have  too  little  gratitude  and  sympathy  for 
those  who  died  for  us  and  our  children,  and  far  too  little  of 
their  spirit.  For  their  cause  required  to  be  vindicated  by 
such  judgments  as  these  in  order  that  it  might  become  as 
precious  to  us  as  it  was  to  them,  and  that  we  should  stand 
ready  to  endure  as  much  for  it  as  they  endured.  Thus  only, 
indeed,  can  we  ever  come  to  share  in  their  glory  and  reward. 


8* 


XX 


THE    FIFTH    TRUMPET      THE   TORMENTS    OF    HUMAN    LIFE 
VIII    13      IX    I-I2 

The  three  following  trumpets  are  of  a  different  character 
from  the  four  preceding,  as  is  plainly  indicated  by  an  eagle 
flying  in  midheaven,  which  intervenes  between  the  two 
series.  One  difference  is,  that,  in  the  former,  the  judgments 
are  symbolized  in  phenomena  produced  by  the  natural  forces 
in  a  state  of  preternatural  excitement  and  commotion 
(171);  whereas,  in  the  first  two  of  these  three  judgments,  the 
regular  course  of  nature  is  undisturbed;  the  order  of  pro- 
cedure in  the  seals  being  thus  reversed  (127).  Another  is, 
that,  in  the  former,  the  dominant  idea  is  the  avenging  of  the 
blood  of  the  martyrs;  but,  in  the  latter,  whilst  this  idea  is 
not  lost  sight  of,  yet  it  recedes  into  the  background,  and 
gives  place  to  judgments  upon  sin  and  wickedness  in  general; 
upon  that  in  man  from  which  martyr  persecutions,  *  idolatries, 
murders,  fornications,  thefts'  (Rev.  ix.  21),  and  all  other 
abominations  proceed. 

13  And  I  saw  and  heard  an  eagle  flying  in  midheaven,  saying  with 
a  great  voice,  Woe,  w^oe,  woe  to  them  that  dwrell  upon  the  earth  for 
the  remaining  voices  of  the  trumpet  of  the  three  angels  who  are  yet  to 
sound  their  trumpets. 

In  the  English  Bible  we  have  '  an  angel  '  in  place  of  this 
eagle,  which  probably  found  its  way  into  the  text  of  in- 
ferior manuscripts  from  an  attempt  of  some  copyist  at 
explanation.  The  eagle  is  here  introduced  as  a  symbol  for 
several  qualities,  among  which  are  its  loftiness  in  flight,  in 
consequence  of  which  it  possesses  an  immense  extent  of 
vision,  and  the  power,  which  has  always  been  ascribed  to  it, 
of  looking  openly  in  the  face  of  the  sun.  For  these  qualities 
(178) 


THE   TOEMENTS  OF  HUMAN  LIFE  \yg 

apparently  it  seems  to  be  taken  here  as  a  symbol  of  apoca- 
lyptic vision,  which  soars  to  the  loftiest  heights,  looks  with 
open  eyes  upon  the  blazing  sun  of  revelation,  and  contem- 
plates an  immense  field  of  providence  and  history.  Hence, 
from  time  immemorial,  the  eagle  has  been  the  received  sym- 
bol of  St.  John,  regarded  as  the  noblest  example  of  such 
vision,  although  we  must  not  forget  that  it  is  the  idea,  and 
not  the  apocalyptist  himself,  that  is  here  represented.  This 
eagle  flies  in  midheaven  and  proclaims  with  a  great  voice, 
that  all  the  dwellers  upon  earth  may  hear,  the  three  great 
woes  which  are  about  to  be  disclosed  as  divine  judgments 
(136).  But  the  order  of  time  in  which  they  are  made  to  pass 
before  us  is  not,  as  we  shall  see,  that  of  the  events  historically 
considered,  but  that  in  which  they  are  presented  in  vision  to 
the  eye  of  the  Seer. 

I  And  the  fifth  angel  sounded  his  trumpet :  and  I  saw  a  star  fallen 
from  heaven  unto  the  earth ;  and  there  was  given  unto  him  the  key  of 
the  pit  of  the  abyss. 

The  Seer  does  not  say  I  saw  a  star  '  fall,'  as  in  the  English 
Bible,  but  '  fallen,'  for  this  fall  had  taken  place  long  before 
(174),  as  we  shall  see  in  a  subsequent  vision  (Rev.  xii.  7-9). 
In  fact,  this  fallen  star  is  a  symbol  of  Satan;  and  he  is  so 
called  apparently  in  allusion  to  the  king  of  Babylon,  repre- 
sented as  '  the  prince  of  this  world  ': 

How  art  thou  fallen  from  heaven,  O  Lucifer,  son  of  the  morning  .  . 
And  thou  saidst  in  thy  heart,  I  will  ascend  into  heaven  ; 
I  will  exalt  my  throne  above  the  stars  of  God.  .  .  . 
I  will  be  like  the  Most  High  (Is.  xiv.  12-13) : 

in  connection  with  which  we  may  recall  the  words  of  the 
Lord:  "  I  beheld  Satan  as  lightning  fall  from  heaven  "  (Luke 
X.  18).  This  interpretation  of  the  symbol  rests  upon  the 
following  considerations:  (i)  The  star  represents  a  personal 
being,  to  whom  the  personal  pronoun  '  he '  is  constantly 
applied:  (2)  He  is  called  'the  angel  of  the  abyss  '  (Rev.  xx.  3), 
to  whom  its  key  is  given;  and  the  abyss  is  the  place  in  which 
Satan  is  shut  up  during  the  millennium;  also  the  place  of 
demons,  or  devils,  into  which  they  entreat  that  they  may  not 


l8o  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

be  sent,  but  may  be  permitted  to  enter  into  the  swine  (Mat. 
viii.  31):  (3)  He  is  the  'king'  of  the  demon  host  which,  in 
this  vision,  he  liberates  from  the  abyss,  that  they  may  swarm 
over  the  earth,  and  torment  mankind:  (4)  His  names,  in 
Hebrew  and  Greek,  are  Abaddon  and  Apollyon,  which  signify 
destruction  and  destroyer.  For  these  reasons  it  would  seem 
impossible  to  misunderstand  the  symbol,  though  it  has  often 
been  strangely  enough  misunderstood. 

2  And  he  opened  the  pit  of  the  abyss ;  and  there  -went  up  smoke 
out  of  the  pit,  as  the  smoke  of  a  great  furnace  ;  and  the  sun  \was  dark- 
ened, and  the  air,  by  the  smoke  of  the  pit. 

In  the  English  Bible,  the  pit  of  the  abyss  is  rendered,  with 
matchless  picturesque  effect,  *  the  bottomless  pit,'  but  the 
precise  meaning  is,  the  depth  or  lowest  deep  of  the  abyss. 
The  smoke  which  escapes  from  it  is  the  symbol  of  torment, 
as  where  it  is  said  of  the  beast-worshippers:  ''The  smoke  of 
their  torment  goeth  up  forever  and  ever"  (Rev.  xiv.  11). 
This  smoke  darkens  the  sun,  the  light  of  man's  earthly  life, 
and  the  air,  which  is  the  medium  of  sunlight  and  the  breath 
of  life  (147),  to  signify  that  this  torment  produces  darkness 
and  confusion  of  mind  in  the  life-sphere  of  rebellious  souls 
(176). 

3  And  out  of  the  smoke  there  came  forth  locusts  upon  the  earth ; 
and  power  was  given  unto  them,  as  the  scorpions  of  the  earth  have 
power. 

The  Seer  now  beholds,  coming  forth  out  of  the  abyss  in 
the  smoke  of  its  torment,  a  swarm  of  demon-like  creatures 
under  the  general  aspect  of  locusts,  to  denote  their  countless 
numbers  and  their  enormous  powers  of  destruction;  for,  in 
these  respects,  a  swarm  of  locusts  baffles  all  computation 
and  description.  Not  long  ago  such  a  swarm  perished  in  the 
sea  near  the  coast  of  south  Africa  east  of  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  and  were  thrown  up  on  the  shore  in  banks  three  feet 
deep,  and  many  miles  in  length,  from  which  resulted  a  pesti- 
lence that  ravaged  all  the  neighboring  country:  a  similar 
event  occurred  also  on  the  west  coast  of  northern  Africa  in 


THE  TORMENTS  OF  HUMAN  LIFE  jgl 

the  kingdom  of  Morocco.  There  seems  to  be  a  reference 
here  to  the  Egyptian  plague  of  locusts,  which  Moses  thus 
describes:  "The  locusts  went  up  over  all  the  land  of 
Egypt.  .  .  .  They  covered  the  face  of  the  whole  earth,  so 
that  the  land  was  darkened:  and  they  did  eat  every  herb  .  . 
and  all  the  fruit  of  the  trees  .  .  and  there  remained  not  any 
green  thing,  either  tree  or  herb  of  the  field,  through  all  the 
land  of  Egypt "  (Ex.  x.  14-15).  But  the  most  graphic 
description  of  this  scourge  that  is  to  be  found  perhaps  in  all 
literature  is  given  us  by  a  later  prophet,  to  which,  in  this 
vision,  there  are  a  number  of  allusions: 


A  nation  is  come  up  upon  my  land,  strong  and  without  number  : 

His  teeth  are  the  teeth  of  a  Uon,  and  he  hath  the  cheek  teeth  of  a  great  lion.  .  .  . 

Gird  yourselves  [with  sackcloth]  and  lament,  ye  priests  : 

Howl,  ye  ministers  of  the  altar  : 

Come,  lie  all  night  in  sackcloth,  ye  ministers  of  my  God.  ... 

Sanctify  a  fast,  call  a  solemn  assembly  ; 

Gather  the  elders,  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  land, 

Unto  the  house  of  the  Lord  your  God, 

And  cry  unto  the  Lord.  .  .  . 

How  do  the  beasts  groan  ! 

The  herds  of  cattle  are  perplexed. 

Because  they  have  no  pasture  ; 

Yea,  the  flocks  of  sheep  are  made  desolate.  .  . 

A  great  people  and  a  strong.  .  .  . 

A  fire  devoureth  before  them, 

And  behind  them  a  flame  bumeth  : 

The  land  is  as  the  Garden  of  Eden  before  them, 

And  behind  them  a  desolate  wilderness.  .  .  . 

The  appearance  of  them  is  as  the  appearance  of  horses, 

And  as  war  horses  so  do  they  run  : 

Like  the  noise  of  chariots  on  the  tops  of  the  mountains  do  they  leap  ; 

Like  the  noise  of  a  flame  of  fire  that  devoureth  the  stubble  ; 

As  a  stron_:j  people  set  in  battle  array.  .  .  . 

They  run  like  mighty  men  ; 

They  climb  the  wall  like  men  of  war  ; 

And  they  march  every  one  on  his  ways, 

And  they  break  not  their  ranks.  .  .  . 

When  they  burst  through  the  weapons 

They  are  not  wounded  (Joel  i.  and  ii.). 

The  locusts  of  this  vision  have  also  the  power  of  scorpions, 
and  we  shall  see  directly  why  this  comparison  is  chosen. 


1 82  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

4  And  it  was  said  unto  them  that  they  should  not  hurt  the  grass 
of  the  earth,  nor  any  green  thing,  nor  any  tree,  but  only  people,  those 
that  have  not  the  seal  of  God  on  their  foreheads. 

They  are  forbidden  to  hurt  the  productions  of  the  earth, 
as  natural  locusts  would,  to  signify  that  they  are  not  such  in 
reality,  but  have  the  origin  and  nature  of  demons,  powers  or 
influences  from  the  pit.  In  what  sense  they  are  to  harm 
only  the  unsealed  we  shall  see  hereafter. 

5  And  unto  them  it  was  given  that  they  should  not  kill  them,  but 
that  they  should  be  tormented  five  months  :  and  their  torment  was  as 
the  torment  of  a  scorpion  when  it  striketh  a  man  :  6  and  in  those  days, 
people  shall  seek  death,  and  shall  not  find  it,  and  shall  desire  to  die, 
and  death  fleeth  from  them. 

We  are  now  prepared  to  grapple  with  this  elaborate  sym- 
bol and  to  extort  its  meaning;  for  it  has  given  rise  to  'an 
endless  Babel  of  allegorical  and  historical  interpretations,' 
in  view  of  which  Dean  Alford,  perhaps  the  most  sober  and 
sage  of  the  commentators,  gives  up  the  problem  in  despair. 
Most  of  them,  however,  interpret  the  vision  as  a  prophecy  of 
the  rise  and  ravages  of  Mohammedanism  ;  but  their  attempts 
to  reconcile  this  with  the  statement,  that  these  demon  locusts 
are  not  permitted  to  kill  men,  but  only  to  torment  them  dur- 
ing life,  involve  these  commentators,  as  may  be  imagined,  in 
the  most  grotesque  perplexities.  In  contrast  with  all  this,  I 
venture  to  suggest  that  it  is  precisely  in  this  statement  we 
have  what  is  intended  to  serve  as  the  key  of  the  whole  sym- 
bol. For  it  contains  an  evident  allusion  to  the  case  of  the 
patriarch  Job,  whom  Satan  was  permitted  to  torment  until 
he  longed  to  die,  but  was  absolutely  forbidden  to  take  his 
life  :  "  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Satan,  He  is  in  thy  hand,  only 
spare  his  life.  So  Satan  went  forth  from  the  presence  of  the 
Lord,  and  smote  Job  with  sore  boils  from  the  sole  of  his  foot 
unto  his  crown.  .  .  .  After  this  Job  opened  his  mouth,  and 
cursed  his  day  (Job  ii.  6-7): 

Let  the  day  perish  wherein  I  was  bom, 

And  the  night  which  said,  A  man  child  is  conceived.  .  .  . 

Why  died  I  not  from  the  womb  ?  .  . 

Why  did  the  knees  receive  me  ?  .  . 


THE  TORMENTS  OF  HUMAN  LIFE  183 

Wherefore  is  light  given  to  him  that  is  in  misery, 

And  life  unto  the  bitter  in  soul ; 

Who  long  for  death,  and  it  cometh  not.   .  . 

Who  rejoice  unto  exultation 

And  are  glad  when  they  can  find  the  grave  ?"  (iii.  1-23). 

Now,  in  this  pointed  allusion  to  the  experience  of  Job,  it 
seems  to  be  not  obscurely  intimated  that  these  demon 
locusts  are  intended  to  symbolize  the  torments  and  miseries 
of  human  life  in  general,  but  with  special  reference  to  dis- 
eases of  body  and  mind,  such  as  do  not  destroy  life,  but  are 
the  bane  of  its  comfort  and  happiness  while  it  lasts  ;  and 
this  interpretation  is  strongly  confirmed  by  most  of  the  other 
particulars  in  the  symbol.  For  these  torments  and  maladies 
are  innumerable  as  a  swarm  of  locusts,  and  they  are  infinitely 
destructive  of  all  that  renders  life  endurable.  They  come  up 
out  of  the  abyss  in  the  smoke  of  its  torment,  which  darkens 
the  sun  and  air,  to  denote  that  they  obscure,  as  torment 
naturally  does,  the  intellectual,  moral,  and  spiritual  light  and 
life-sphere  of  mankind  ;  and  they  are  liberated  out  of  the 
abyss  by  Satan,  to  signify  that  they  originate  from  sin, 
apart  from  which  there  would  have  been  no  more  place  for 
them  in  this  world  than  there  is  in  heaven.  Moreover,  this 
representation  of  the  origin  of  the  diseases  and  torments  of 
human  life  runs  through  the  whole  Scripture,  as  in  this  case 
of  Job  ;  in  our  Lord's  casting  out  of  the  devils  or  demons 
that  caused  paral5^sis,  epilepsy,  insanity,  with  other  bodily 
and  mental  diseases;  in  His  healing  by  spiritual  power  all 
manner  of  sicknesses  and  infirmities.  It  is  confirmed  also  by 
the  manifest  tendency  of  the  Christian  religion  to  promote 
the  health,  comfort,  and  happiness  of  mankind  ;  for  as  the 
life  that  is  in  Christ  comes  to  be  more  fully  received,  and 
more  perfectly  realized,  the  influences  which  are  destructive 
of  physical  and  mental  health  become  less  operative  (137), 
and  those  which  promote  it  increase  in  efficiency;  until,  as  the 
final  result,  when  sin  shall  be  done  away,  *  there  shall  be  no 
more  .  .  sorrow  nor  crying,  neither  shall  there  be  any  more 
pain  '  (Rev.  xxi.  4).  The  only  particulars  thus  far  which  do 
not  seem  to  agree  with  this  interpretation  are  the  time,  '  five 


1 84  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

months,'  during  which  the  locusts  are  to  continue,  and  that 
they  are  to  hurt  those  only  who  have  not  the  seal  of  God  on 
their  foreheads  (157)  ;  which  latter  seems,  at  first  right,  to  be 
palpably  inconsistent  with  the  fact  that  Job,  the  best  man  of 
his  times,  was  so  grievously  tormented.  But  it  may  be  under- 
stood in  the  sense  that  these  torments  have  no  power  to  harm 
the  true  children  of  God,  to  whom  they  are  means  of  grace 
and  blessing,  as  they  actually  proved  in  Job's  case,  and  ac- 
cording to  St.  Paul's  declarations  :  "  We  know  that  all  things 
work  together  for  good  to  those  who  love  God  (Rom.  ii.  28). 
For  our  light  affliction,  which  is  but  for  a  moment,  worketh 
for  us  more  and  more  exceedingly  an  eternal  weight  of 
glory"  (2  Cor.  iv.  17).  Yet,  as  disciplinary  chastisements, 
they  often  cause  even  good  people  to  despair  of  life,  and  long 
to  die,  while  death  seems  to  flee  from  them.  The  'five 
months '  will  occur  again  hereafter,  and  require  to  be  con- 
sidered. Having  thus  put  into  our  hands  his  own  key  of  the 
symbol,  that  we  may  apply  it  to  the  remaining  particulars, 
our  Seer  now  proceeds  with  his  elaborate  description  of  the 
locusts. 

7  And  the  similitudes  of  the  locusts  were  like  unto  horses  prepared 
for  battle  ;  and  upon  their  heads  -were  crowns,  as  it  were  like  unto 
gold ;  and  their  faces  were  as  the  faces  of  men  ;  8  and  they  had  hair 
as  the  hair  of  women  ;  and  their  teeth  were  as  of  lions ;  9  and  they 
had  breastplates,  as  it  w^ere  breastplates  of  iron  ;  and  the  sound  of 
their  w^ings  w^as  as  the  sound  of  chariots  of  many  horses  running  to 
battle  ;  10  and  they  have  tails  like  unto  scorpions,  and  stings  ;  and  in 
their  tails  is  their  power  to  hurt  people  five  months.  1 1  They  have  a  king 
over  them,  the  angel  of  the  abyss  :  his  name  in  Hebrew^  is  Abaddon, 
and  in  Greek  he  hath  the  name  Apollyon. 

The  torments  and  miseries  of  human  life  are  like  horses  pre- 
pared for  battle,  in  that  their  attacks  are  made  with  such  im- 
petus and  rapidity  that  they  cannot  be  avoided  (129);  and 
this  idea,  along  with  that  of  their  vast  numbers,  is  still  further 
emphasized  by  the  sound  of  their  wings,  which  is  like  that  of 
'chariots  of  many  horses  running  to  battle.'  They  have 
crowns  to  denote  that  their  power  over  mankind  is  like  that 
of  kings  (135);  and  these  crowns  are  like  unto  gold,  as  the 


THE   TORMENTS  OF  HUMAN  LIFE  185 

chalices  which  contain  the  seven  last  plagues  are  of  gold 
(Rev.  XV.  7),  to  represent  the  preciousness  of  the  divine 
judgments  as  means  to  establish  the  Lord's  kingdom  {^iC))- 
They  have  the  faces  of  men  and  the  hair  of  women,  to  signify 
that  they  are  of  either  sex,  that  they  affect  both  sexes  alike. 
They  have  the  teeth  of  lions,  to  denote  their  remorseless, 
lacerating,  crushing  power.  They  have  breastplates  as  of 
iron,  in  allusion  to  the  prophet's  description,  'When  they 
burst  through  the  weapons,  they  are  not  wounded '  (Joel  ii. 
8),  to  signify  that  they  are  invulnerable  in  the  sense  that  no 
human  power  is  able  to  destroy  them,  nor  to  diminish  their 
numbers.  They  are  like  scorpions  in  the  anguish  which  they 
inflict,  for  the  sting  of  the  scorpion  is  extremely  painful,  but 
seldom  fatal;  and  their  power  to  hurt  is  in  their  tails,  per- 
haps to  denote  that  they  leave  many  deleterious  conse- 
quences behind  them.  The  '  five  months  '  during  which  they 
continue  contain  an  evident  allusion  to  what  orientals  call 
'the  five  locust  months,'  i.  e.  from  May  to  September  inclu- 
sive ;  and  we  might  understand  that  nothing  more  is  in- 
tended, if  it  were  not  for  the  repetition  of  this  statement, 
which  seems  to  indicate  that  it  must  have  some  symbolical 
meaning.  But  this  is  a  point  which  I  cannot  satisfactorily 
elucidate,  and  it  presents  an  equal  or  greater  difficulty  in  all 
other  interpretations  of  the  vision.  If  that  which  I  have 
given  be  the  true  one,  these  five  months  must  be  equivalent 
to  man's  lifetime  upon  the  earth,  in  confirmation  of  which  it 
may  be  observed:  (i)  That  human  life  is  frequently  reck- 
oned by  months  apparently  with  reference  to  its  brevity  and 
changing  phases: 

The  number  of  his  months  is  \vilh  thee, 

And  thou  hast  appointed  his  bounds  (Job.  xiv.  5). 

The  number  of  his  months  is  cut  off  in  the  midst  (xxi.  21). 

(2)  Both  Lange  and  Bengel,  two  of  the  most  eminent  com- 
mentators, with  interpretations  of  the  vision  entirely  differ- 
ent from  the  one  here  given,  and  from  each  other,  agree  sub- 
stantially with  this  interpretation  of  the  five  months;  for  the 
former  tells  us  that  the  number  five  has  the  symbolical  mean- 
ing of  '  life  moved  by  spirit ';  and  the  latter,  that  these  five 


1 86  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

months  represent  about  seventy-six  years  ;  but  upon  what 
evidence,  in  either  case,  I  do  not  know.  I  think  it  probable 
that  there  was  formerly  a  symbolical  meaning  attached  to 
the  number  five,  and  to  months,  with  which  we  are  not 
acquainted,  such  that  five  months  would  represent  the  nor- 
mal length  of  human  life.  However  that  may  be,  it  is  cer- 
tain that  the  difficulty  is  equally  great  in  every  other  inter- 
pretation of  the  vision. 

12  The  first  \voe  is  past ;  behold,  there  come  tw^o  woes  hereafter. 

Thus  closes  the  vision  of  the  fifth  trumpet.  But  the  order 
of  time  here  is  not  that  in  which  these  woes  come  upon  the 
earth,  but  that  in  which  the  visions  pass  before  the  eyes  of 
the  Seer  (179). 

That  which  stands  out  in  all  this  symbolization,  and  which 
is  properly  a  disclosure  under  the  seventh  seal,  opening  out 
into  these  trumpet  visions  (163),  is,  that  the  torments  of 
human  life,  all  its  maladies  and  sorrows,  are  truly  the  judg- 
ments of  God;  that  they  originate  in  sin  from  the  power  of 
Satan,  who,  as  the  angel  of  the  abyss,  as  Abaddon  and  Apol- 
lyon,  lets  them  loose  from  his  place  of  torment,  to  scourge 
the  sinful  world;  and  it  is  because  this  truth  is  mostly  Ic^st 
sight  of  by  mankind,  who  suffer  these  torments,  indeed,  but 
who  see  only  the  second  causes  which  produce  them,  and  do 
not  connect  them  with  their  sins,  that  it  is  here  disclosed  by 
the  opening  of  one  of  the  seals  of  the  seven  sealed  book  (137). 
Nor  need  we  be  surprised  at  the  strength  and  gloom  of  these 
symbols;  for  what  colors  are  dark  enough  to  portray  the 
vast  world  of  human  suffering  as  it  lies  under  the  eye  of 
God's  omniscience !  What  locust  swarms  of  bodily  and 
mental  diseases,  and  how  indescribable  their  torments!  All 
the  sicknesses  and  woes  caused  by  the  abuse  of  intoxicants, 
especially  alcohol  and  opium;  by  licentiousness,  luxury,  and 
idleness;  by  passionate  struggles  for  wealth;  by  its  loss  after 
it  has  been  possessed  and  enjoyed,  and  by  abject  poverty;  all 
the  sorrows  of  disappointed  ambition,  affection,  and  hope; 
of  infidelity  in  marriage,  and  disobedient  children!  What 
wonder  that,  under  this  intolerable  load  of  misery,  the  suffer- 


THE  TORMENTS  OF  HUMAN  LIFE  187 

ers  should  often  be  driven  to  despair,  and  should  long  for 
death,  in  the  vain  hope  that  it  will  end  their  sorrows!  But 
the  relief  of  death  flies  from  them,  for  even  the  suicide  does 
not  find  what  he  seeks.  And  how  blessed  that  the  seal  of  the 
living  God  turns  all  these  calamities  and  sorrows  into  means 
of  grace  and  salvation,  so  that  the  sealed,  instead  of  being 
harmed  by  them,  are  purified,  and  prepared  for  the  glories 
and  the  joys  of  heaven  ! 


XXI 

THE    SIXTH   TRUMPET       THE   JUDGMENT    OF   SUDDEN   AND 
VIOLENT   DEATH      IX    1 3-2 1 

Here  again  the  commentators  are  no  less  incongruous  and 
self-contradictory  than  in  the  last  case  (182);  for  they  inter- 
pret the  horses  and  horsemen  of  this  vision  as  representing 
pagans,  Turks,  Saracens,  pashas  with  horse-tails  on  their 
helmets,  kings,  popes,  inquisitors,  heresies,  and  even  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  Yet  I  venture  again  to  suggest  that  the 
vision  has  a  plain  meaning,  namely,  that,  as  the  preceding 
one  represents  the  torments  and  miseries  of  mankind  during 
life,  with  special  reference  to  diseases  and  maladies,  so  here 
we  have  no  less  vividly  symbolized  the  judgment  of  sudden 
and  violent  death,  with  a  like  special  reference  to  one  pre- 
dominant cause  of  it,  by  which,  as  in  the  former  case,  the 
whole  symbol  is  interpreted. 

13  And  the  sixth  angel  sounded  his  trumpet :  and  I  heard  one  voice 
from  the  four  horns  of  the  golden  altar  which  is  before  God,  14  saying 
unto  the  sixth  angel  who  had  the  trumpet,  Loose  the  four  angels  who 
are  bound  at  the  great  river  Euphrates :  15  and  the  four  angels  were 
loosed,  who  had  been  prepared  for  the  hour  and  day  and  month  and 
year,  that  they  should  slay  a  third  part  of  the  people. 

This  golden  altar  is  the  altar  of  prayer  (165),  from  which 
we  have  seen  the  fire  of  divine  justice  taken  and  cast  upon 
the  earth  (167);  and  its  four  horns  represent  the  power  of 
the  prayers  of  all  the  saints  throughout  the  world;  the  num- 
ber four  being  the  symbol  of  the  world  or  universality  (114), 
and  the  horn  everywhere,  that  of  power  (121),  as  in  the 
words  : 

He  had  horns  coming-  out  of  His  hand, 
And  there  was  the  hiding  of  His  power  (Hab.  iii.  4). 
(188) 


JUDGMENT  OF  SUDDEN  AND   VIOLENT  DEATH    189 

Hence  the  'one  voice'  from  the  four  horns  of  this  altar  is 
that  of  the  united  prayers  of  all  God's  people,  the  great 
burden  of  which,  as  we  have  seen,  is,  that  His  kingdom 
may  come  :  but  since  this  cannot  be  but  by  means  of  great 
judgments  upon  the  world  (169),  the  power  of  these  prayers 
is  here  symbolically  represented  as  a  voice  of  command  from 
the  four  horns  of  this  altar,  addressed  to  the  trumpeting 
angel,  to  let  loose  the  destructive  forces  which  are  to  be 
employed  in  these  judgments.  For  these  angels  whom  He 
liberates,  like  those  whom  we  have  seen  holding  the  winds 
in  their  hands  (152),  are  symbolical  representations  of  the 
divine  agencies  and  ministries  in  the  destructive  forces  of 
nature  (153);  and  there  are  four  of  them  to  denote  that  their 
control  applies  to  these  forces  in  their  totality  (114)  They 
are  represented  as  bound  and  kept  in  readiness  '  for  the  hour 
and  day  and  month  and  year,'  i.  e.  for  all  times  in  which 
their  ministry  shall  be  required,  to  signify  that  they  are  not 
allowed  to  exercise  their  powers  of  destruction  until  this  is 
rendered  necessary  by  the  entrance  of  sin  into  the  world, 
and  perhaps  that  these  powers  could  not  have  their  utmost 
efficiency  until  the  most  effective  instruments  for  the  de- 
struction of  human  life  should  be  brought  into  use.  But 
why  are  they  represented  as  bound  at  the  great  river 
Euphrates  ?  Here  we  must  remember  that  this  river  was 
the  typical  boundary  between  the  Lord's  kingdom  and  the 
regions  which  represented  the  kingdom  of  Satan,  as  in  the 
statements  :  "  The  Lord  made  a  covenant  with  Abram,  say- 
ing. Unto  thy  seed  have  I  given  this  land,  from  the  river  of 
Egypt  unto  the  great  river,  the  river  Euphrates "  (Gen. 
XV.  18). 

He  shall  have  dominion  also  from  sea  to  sea, 

And  from  the  River  [Euphrates]  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  (Ps.  Ixxii.  8). 

The  unknown  countries  to  the  north  and  east  of  this  river 
were  the  dwelling  places  of  Gog  and  Magog,  who  were  des- 
tined to  destruction  in  the  final  consummation  (Rev.  xx.  8-9). 
Hence  these  angels  of  destruction  are  represented  as  bound 
on  the  border  line  between  the  Lord's  kingdom  and  that  de- 
partment of  the  spirit  world  which  is  never  to  be  reclaimed 


190 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


by  divine  grace,  i.  e.  the  realm  of  Satan;  in  other  words,  this 
border  line  they  are  not  allowed  to  cross,  until  the  set  time 
for  which  they  are  prepared.  As  the  swarm  of  human  tor- 
ments, in  the  preceding  vision,  are  imprisoned  in  the  abyss 
until  they  are  liberated  to  do  their  appointed  work,  so  these 
destroyers  of  human  life  are  not  permitted  to  cross  the 
border  line  of  Satan's  kingdom  where  they  originate,  until 
the  times  when  they  shall  be  called  forth  to  punish  sin  and 
wickedness  :  in  other  words,  the  causes  which  suddenly  and 
violently  destroy  human  life  belong  essentially  to  the  realm 
of  Satan  in  the  sense  that  their  fatal  operations  are  the 
fruits,  consequences,  and  punishments  of  sin  ;  for  they  orig- 
inate from  the  disordered  relations  between  man  and 
nature,  and  between  man  and  man,  which  sin  produces  ; 
apart  from  which  they  could  never  have  had  any  more  place 
or  agency  in  this  world  than  they  have  in  heaven  (183). 
Perhaps  also  it  is  not  without  significance,  that  Babylon, 
the  great  antichristian  world  power,  was  seated  on  the 
Euphrates,  as  an  indication  that  these  destructive  agencies 
derive  their  greatest  efficiency  from  the  prevalence  of  anti- 
christian worldliness. 


16  And  the  number  of  the  armies  of  the  horsemen  was  twice  ten 
thousand  times  ten  thousand  :  I  heard  the  number  of  them. 

The  symbolical  angels  of  destruction  are  now  lost  sight 
of,  or  rather  they  seem  to  be  inseparably  blended  with  the 
demon  host  which  is  presented  to  the  eye  of  the  Seer.  It 
contains  such  multitudes  that  he  cannot  count  them,  but  he 
hears  their  number,  200,000,000,  to  denote  that  the  causes  of 
sudden  and  violent  death  are  practically  innumerable  (180), 
They  have  a  military  character  as  horsemen  or  cavalry,  in 
which,  however,  the  riders  are  completely  identified  with 
the  horses,  to  denote  that  their  attacks  are  rapid  and  un- 
avoidable (129) ;  also,  in  pointed  allusion  to  war,  as  the 
greatest  of  all  the  sudden  and  violent  destroyers  of  human 
life. 


JUDGMENT  OF  SUDDEN  AND   VIOLENT  DEA  TH    jqi 

17  And  thus  I  saw  the  horses  in  the  vision,  and  them  that  sat  upon 
them,  having  breastplates  as  of  fire  and  jacinth  and  brimstone  :  and 
the  heads  of  the  horses  are  as  the  heads  of  lions ;  and  out  of  their  mouths 
goeth  forth  fire  and  smoke  and  brimstone. 

The  origin  and  nature  of  these  destructive  agencies  are 
still   further   declared  by  these    demon   modifications  ;  but 
otherwise  the  ideas  which  they  represent  are  not  clear.     The 
horsemen  have  breastplates  like  fire  and  jacinth  and  brim- 
stone, three  things  which  seem  to  be  introduced  here  with 
reference  to  their  colors.     The  jacinth  or  hyacinth  is  a  stone 
of  various  hues,  and  here  probably  of  a  dark  or  blood  red, 
which,  blending  with  those  of  fire  and  brimstone,  would  give 
to  these  breastplates  a  very  lurid  and  terrible  appearance. 
The  breastplates  themselves,  as  defensive  armor,  represent, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  locusts  that  could  not  be  wounded  (185), 
the  security  with  which  these  demon  powers  perform  their 
functions  ;  for  nothing  is  more  remarkable  than  the  ineffi- 
ciency of  all  human  efforts  and  skill  to  guard    against  the 
sudden  and  violent  destruction  of  life.     The  heads   of  the 
horses    are    like   those    of   lions,  to  denote  the  remorseless 
crushing  destructiveness    of   these   forces    (185).     Fire  and 
smoke  and  brimstone  issue  forth  out  of  their  mouths  (170); 
i.  e.  they  are  the  instruments  of  divine  justice,  and  punish 
sin  with  the  torment  of  a  painful  death  (183).     Moreover,  it 
is  in  this  particular,  taken  in  connection  with  the  military 
character  of  the  whole  symbol,  that  I  find  the  special  allusion 
which  gives  us  the  key  to  its  meaning.     But  here  we  must 
bear  in  mind  that  the  Seer  describes  it  just  as  he  saw  it  in 
the  vision,  and  much  of  its  significance  may  relate  to  what 
was  then  in  the  distant  future  ;  also,  from  its  military  char- 
acter in  general,  we  naturally  expect  to  find  in  it  some  allu- 
sion to  the  destructive  agencies  and  instrumentalities  of  war, 
by  which  the  greatest  number  of  sudden  and  violent  deaths 
are   inflicted.     Now,  of  all    these  instrumentalities,  what  is 
there  so  destructive,  or  which  could  be  so  fitly  symbolized 
under  these  terrific  images  of  fire  and  smoke  and  brimstone 
issuing  out  of  the  mouths  of  these  demon   horses,  as  gun- 


192 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


powder  and  firearms  ?  And  this  interpretation,  unlike  many 
that  I  have  given,  is  supported  by  some  of  the  most  eminent 
and  judicious  commentators,  who  hold  quite  other  views  of 
the  general  import  of  the  vision,  one  of  whom  makes  the  fol- 
lowing observation  :  *'  This  is  just  such  a  description  as  would 
be  given  of  an  army  to  which  the  use  of  gunpowder  was 
known.  .  .  Looking  .  .  upon  a  body  of  cavalry  in  the  heat  of 
an  engagement,  it  would  seem,  if  the  cause  were  unknown, 
that  the  horses  belched  forth  smoke  and  sulphurous  flame." 
It  was  thus  the  symbol  was  presented  to  the  eye  of  the  Seer. 
He  does  not  tell  us  what  it  means  :  perhaps  he  himself  did 
not  know,  for  it  may  have  been  impossible  for  anyone  to 
understand  it  in  this  particular  until  firearms  should  have 
come  into  use  :  and  the  fact,  that  these  angels  of  destruction 
are  represented  as  bound  for  a  time,  and  not  allowed  to  let 
loose  their  forces  until  the  set  time  for  which  they  are  pre- 
pared, may  contain  an  allusion  to  the  comparatively  late  in- 
vention of  gunpowder.  In  fine,  that  there  is  such  a  special 
reference  to  this  predominant  cause  of  the  destruction  of 
human  life  is  the  more  probable  from  the  fact,  that  there  is  a 
similar  reference,  as  we  have  seen,  to  diseases  and  maladies 
among  the  causes  of  torment  and  misery  (183). 

18  By  these  three  plagues  a  third  part  of  the  people  were  slain,  by 
the  fire  and  the  smoke  and  the  brimstone  which  went  forth  out  of  theil 
mouths:  19  for  the  power  of  the  horses  is  in  their  mouths  and  in  their 
tails ;  for  their  tails  are  like  unto  serpents,  having  heads,  and  with 
these  they  do  hurt. 

The  number  of  those  who  are  killed  by  all  these  causes,  to 
represent  which  in  their  totality  war,  on  account  of  its 
superior  destructiveness,  seems  to  be  taken  here,  can  hardly 
be  less  than  a  third  part  of  mankind.  This  last  modification 
in  the  form  and  action  of  these  demon  horses,  namely,  that 
they  have  tails  with  heads  like  serpents,  with  which  they  do 
hurt,  may  be  intended  to  symbolize  the  terrible  consequences 
which  follow  in  the  train  of  war  (185),  and  other  causes  of 
the  sudden  and  violent  destruction  of  human  life,  and  which 
do  more  hurt  perhaps  than  the  bloodiest  battles. 


JUDGMENT  OF  SUDDEN  AND   VIOLENT  DEA  TH    1Q3 

Here,  then,  we  have  the  apocalyptic  symbol  of  the  judg- 
ment and  mystery  of  sudden  and  violent  death  ;  the  immedi- 
ate causes  of  which  are  represented  as  a  mighty  host  which 
the  Seer  cannot  number  because  they  are  practically  innu- 
merable, including  wars,  explosions  of  steam  and  fire-damp, 
shipwrecks,  railroad  disasters,  earthquakes,  volcanoes,  hurri- 
canes, murder,  suicide,  and  the  ravages  of  wild  beasts.  The 
general  military  character  of  the  symbol  gives  predominance 
among  these  causes  to  war  ;  and  in  its  centre  we  behold  the 
destruction  caused  by  gunpowder  and  firearms.  They  are 
symbolized  by  demons  from  the  realm  of  Satan,  to  denote 
that  they  originate  from  the  spiritual  world  of  moral  evil  ; 
that  they  are  permitted  to  do  their  work  in  consequence  of 
sin,  upon  which  they  are  the  judgments  of  God,  in  fulfilment 
of  His  word  : 

Bloody  and  deceitful  men  shall  not  live  out  half  their  days  (Ps.  Iv.  23). 

He  that  being  often  reproved  hardeneth  his  neck 

Shall  suddenly  be  destroyed,  and  that  without  remedy  (Prov.  xxix.  i). 

They  come  upon  mankind  under  a  mandate  from  the  four 
horns  of  the  altar  of  prayer,  because  the  Lord  finds  it  neces- 
sary to  use  them  in  subduing  the  world  unto  Himself  in 
answer  to  the  prayers  of  His  people,  that  His  kingdom  may 
come  (169):  in  all  which  we  have  nothing  inconsistent  with 
prayer  that  we  may  be  delivered  from  sudden  death,  or  from 
other  judgments  ;  for  it  is  in  answer  to  such  prayer  that  they 
have  no  power  to  harm  any  who  have  the  seal  of  God  on  their 
foreheads  (184). 

20  And  the  rest  of  the  people  who  were  not  slain  by  these  plagues 
repented  not  of  the  works  of  their  hands,  that  they  should  not  worship 
devils  and  images  of  gold  and  silver  and  brass  and  stone  and  wood, 
which  can  neither  see  nor  hear  nor  walk ;  21  and  they  repented  not 
of  their  murders,  nor  of  their  sorceries,  nor  of  their  fornication,  nor  of 
their  thefts. 

Thus  we  have  represented  the  amazing  impenitence  of 
mankind  under  this  judgment,  by  which  one-third  of  them, 
i.  e.  a  very  large  proportion,  are  cut  off,  and  under  the  pre- 
ceding one,   by  which   they  are   overwhelmed  in  perpetual 
9 


194 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 


miser^^  They  persist  in  their  idolatries  and  immoralities, 
for  which  they  are  so  grievously  punished.  They  continue 
to  worship  devils  or  demons,  and  to  be  governed  by  Satanic 
influences;  to  set  their  hope,  not  in  God,  in  the  keeping  of 
His  commandments,  in  the  blessings  of  His  kingdom,  but  in 
images  or  idols  of  gold,  silver,  brass,  stone,  wood,  which  can 
neither  see  nor  hear  nor  walk;  i.  e.  in  the  things  that  perish 
in  the  using.  They  repent  not  of  their  idolatries  and  crimes; 
which,  including  sorcery,  i.  e.  collusion,  or  attempted  collu- 
sion, with  evil  spirits  for  selfish  or  injurious  purposes,  con- 
tinue even  yet  to  defile  and  corrupt  society.  How  very  few 
are  led  to  repentance  by  the  abounding  miseries,  or  by  the 
enormous  destruction  of  life,  which  prevail  in  the  world  ! 
How  little  influence  the  blood  shed  in  our  late  civil  war  has 
had  to  lead  the  survivors  to  repentance  !  Hence  it  is  to  be 
feared  that  this  impenitent  hardness  will  make  it  necessary 
for  the  Lord  to  send  upon  us  other  and  still  greater  judg- 
ments, before  we  shall  be  taught  that  we  cannot  thus  harden 
our  hearts,  nor  refuse  to  acknowledge  and  serve  Him,  both 
as  individuals  and  as  a  nation,  without  being  destroyed 
suddenly  and  without  remedy.  For  the  inflictions  hitherto 
represented  in  these  visions,  not  being  sufficient  to  accom- 
plish their  benevolent  objects,  must  needs  be  followed  by 
others  yet  more  severe,  before  the  kingdom  can  be  fully  es- 
tablished, and  the  Golden  City  shall  come  down  from  God 
out  of  heaven.  Meanwhile  the  sealed  and  numbered  shall 
be  kept  in  perfect  safety;  for  whatever  they  may  be  called 
to  suffer,  whether  from  protracted  misery  or  sudden  death, 
shall  be  made  *  to  work  for  them  more  and  more  an  exceed- 
ing weight  of  glory '  (2  Cor.  iv.  17). 


XXII 

THE    SEVEN    THUNDERS       SECRET    THINGS    BELONG    UNTO 
THE   LORD      X    I-/ 

This  vision  is  regarded  by  some  as  '  Episodical,'  i.  e.  as  in- 
terjected between  the  sixth  and  seventh  trumpets  ;  but  it 
seems  much  better  to  take  it  as  a  continuation  of  the  sixth 
in  preparation  for  the  last.  But  what  is  very  remarkable  is, 
that  it  contains  in  its  bosom  one  whole  series  of  the  revela- 
tions of  this  book,  that  of  the  seven  thunders.  Yet  the  reason 
for  this  peculiar  arrangement  is  quite  obvious,  namely,  that 
the  Seer  was  forbidden  to  make  any  record  of  the  particulars 
of  this  series,  in  consequence  of  which  it  occupies  but  a  sin- 
gle sentence.  If  he  had  been  allowed  to  record  and  publish 
what  the  thunders  revealed,  this  division  of  the  book,  no 
doubt,  would  have  taken  up  as  much  room  as  any  other  one 
of  the  seven  (14):  but,  since  these  hidden  things  could  be 
dispatched  with  such  brevity,  they  are  here  included  under 
the  sixth  trumpet  in  preparation  for  the  seventh  and  last. 

I  And  I  saw  another  mighty  angel  coming  down  out  of  heaven, 
clothed  with  a  cloud,  and  a  rainbow  was  upon  his  head,  and  his  coun- 
tenance was  as  the  sun,  and  his  feet  were  as  pillars  of  fire. 

The  Seer  has  not  now  his  standpoint  in  heaven  where  it 
seems  to  have  been  ever  since  he  obeyed  the  command, 
'Come  up  hither'  (108),  but  upon  the  earth,  as  is  evident 
from  his  seeing  this  angel  '  coming  down  out  of  heaven,'  and 
from  his  hearing  a  voice  subsequently 'from  heaven.'  The 
angel  whom  he  now  see:  is  called  'another  mighty  angel ' 
perhaps  with  reference  to  the  one  whom  he  saw  and  heard 
proclaiming  with  a  great  voice,  '  Who  is  worthy  to  open  the 

(195) 


196 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


book  ? '  In  both  cases  their  great  might  is  in  order  that  their 
voices  may  be  loud  enough  to  be  heard  throughout  the  uni- 
verse (1T9).  The  glory  of  this  angel  is  very  great,  such  in- 
deed, that  he  is  commonly  taken  to  be  the  Lord  in  person; 
in  which  view,  however,  I  cannot  concur  for  reasons  which 
have  been  given  in  a  former  similar  case;  yet  we  need  not 
hesitate  to  regard  him  as  a  symbolical  representative  of 
the  Lord,  as  in  that  case  (166).  For  he  is  clothed  with  a 
cloud,  probably  a  bright  luminous  one,  like  that  which  over- 
shadowed the  Lord  on  the  mount  of  transfiguration  (Mat. 
xvii.  s).  A  rainbow,  literally  '  the  rainbow,'  is  upon  his  head, 
which  is  the  symbol  of  God's  covenant  mercy,  of  which  the 
Lord  is  the  minister  (no).  His  countenance  is  as  the  sun, 
which  has  been  directly  applied  to  the  Lord  Himself  (38);  and 
his  feet  are  as  pillars  of  fire,  as  we  have  seen  the  Lord's  feet 
'like  burnished  brass,  as  glowing  in  a  furnace'  (35).  Other 
similar  traits,  identifying  this  glorious  angel  as  at  least  a 
symbolical  representative  of  the  Lord,  will  appear  in  the  se- 
quel. 

2  And  he  had  in  his  hand  a  little  book  opened.  And  he  set  his  right 
foot  upon  the  sea,  and  his  left  upon  the  earth,  3  and  cried  with  a  great 
voice  as  a  lion  roareth  ;  and  when  he  cried,  seven  thunders  spake  [with] 
their  voices. 

This  little  opened  book  will  require  particular  consider- 
ation hereafter.  The  angel  sets  one  foot  upon  the  earth,  as 
representing  the  earthly  or  natural  life  of  man  in  general 
(153),  and  the  other  upon  the  sea,  the  symbol  of  national  life 
in  particular  (174),  to  denote  the  absolute  authority  over  both 
of  Him  whom  he  represents,  and  that  what  he  has  to  an- 
nounce concerns  all  mankind.  His  voice  is  compared  to  the 
roaring  of  the  lion,  which,  in  his  native  wilds,  has  a  massive- 
ness,  as  it  were,  a  solidity,  resulting  from  the  prodigious 
strength  of  his  vocal  organism,  which  has  no  rival  except  the 
thunder,  with  which  it  often  mingles.  Whether  this  great 
cry  of  the  angel  was  inarticulate,  like  the  roar  of  the  lion,  we 
are  not  informed;  but  if  he  said  anything  at  this  time,  it  is 
hidden  from  us,  as  in  the  case  of   what  was  said   by  the 


SECRET  THINGS  BELONG  UNTO  THE  LORD  197 

thunders.  For  they  certainly  '  spake  '  articulately  and  intel- 
ligibly, and  with  such  fulness  that  their  deliverances  consti- 
tute one  whole  series  of  these  revelations,  co-ordinate  with 
those  of  the  seven  churches,  the  seven  seals,  the  seven 
trumpets,  and  the  seven  last  plagues;  and  that  they  were 
understood  by  St.  John  is  evident  from  what  immediately 
follows. 

4  And  when  the  seven  thunders  spake,  I  was  about  to  write  :  and 
I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying.  Seal  up  those  things  w^hich  the 
seven  thunders  spake,  and  write  them  not. 

For  what  reason  was  this  prohibition  given  ?  The  ques- 
tion does  not  admit  of  a  perfectly  satisfactory  answer,  which 
would  require  at  least  that  we  should  know  what  the  thun- 
ders revealed.  Yet  we  are  not  left  altogether  in  the  dark; 
for  we  know  that  it  lies  in  the  methods  of  divine  providence 
and  grace  to  disclose  to  chosen  and  prepared  souls  what  must 
be  concealed  from  all  others;  of  which  we  have  many  Scrip- 
tural examples,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  Christian  experience. 
Thus  Moses  was  admitted  to  behold  the  glory  of  God,  and  to 
talk  with  Him  '  face  to  face  as  a  man  speaketh  unto  his 
friend'  (Ex.  xxxiii.  11);  and  when  he  came  down  from  the 
mount  of  such  open  communion  with  God,  his  face  did 
shine  with  reflected  glory,  so  that  the  people  could  not  look 
upon  it,  and  he  had  to  cover  it  with  a  veil  (xxxiv.  33-35): 
how  much  less,  then,  could  they  have  looked  upon  that  glory 
itself,  as  it  blazed  in  the  face  of  God  !  The  prophet  Daniel 
received  revelations  which  he  was  not  allowed  to  publish, 
but  was  commanded  to  seal  them  up  until  the  time  of  the 
end  (Dan.  xii.  4-9).  .  .  Our  Lord  permitted  only  three  of  His 
disciples,  Peter,  James,  and  John,  to  behold  His  glory  on  the 
mount  of  transfiguration  (Matt.  xvii.  i);  and  He  said  to  them 
all:  "  I  have  many  things  to  say  unto  you,  but  ye  cannot  bear 
them  now"  (John  xvi.  12):  St.  Paul  also  was  caught  up  into 
heaven,  and  shown  many  things  which  he  was  not  allowed  to 
declare  (2  Cor.  xii.  2-4).  Hence  it  is  altogether  probable 
that  St.  John  was  commanded  to  *  seal  up,'  i.  e.  to  make  no 
record  of,  what  these  thunders  '  spake,'  because  the  glory  of 


igg  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

it  was  greater  than  the  church  could  bear.  For  if  it  had 
been  published  whilst  as  yet  the  Lord's  people  were  not  duly- 
prepared  for  it,  it  would  have  done  harm,  such  as  would  have 
befallen  Israel  in  the  wilderness  if  they  had  been  permitted 
to  see  what  Moses  saw,  and  the  disciples,  if  the  Lord  had  re- 
vealed to  them  what  they  could  not  bear.  Thus  we  are 
instructed  that,  if  we  would  be  admitted  to  the  secrets  of 
God,  we  must  become  beloved  disciples. 

Notwithstanding,  although  the  particulars  of  what  was 
here  revealed  to  the  holy  apostle  are  hidden  from  us,  yet  the 
circumstances  in  which  it  was  communicated  are  so  carefully 
described  as  to  indicate  perhaps  something  of  its  general 
character.  Hence  it  has  been  plausibly  conjectured  that 
these  thunders  revealed  a  stage  of  great  spiritual  progress 
and  prosperity  in  the  church,  such  as  presented  a  strong 
contrast  to  the  judgments  and  woes  of  the  preceding  seals 
and  trumpets,  and  to  the  seven  chalices  of  wrath  that  are  to 
follow  in  the  order  of  the  visions.  This  conjecture  rests 
mainly  on  two  considerations:  (i)  The  benign  glory  of  the 
angel  who  announces  the  thunders:  the  sunlight  of  his  coun- 
tenance, the  luminous  cloud  with  which  he  is  clothed,  the 
rainbow  upon  his  head,  the  splendor  of  his  feet:  all  which 
are  symbols  of  grace,  mercy,  peace,  and  blessing,  and  not  of 
judgments  or  punishments:  (2)  The  benign  significance  of 
thunder  in  many  passages  of  Scripture,  such  as  the  following: 

The  waters  stood  above  the  mountains  ; 

At  thy  rebuke  they  (led  ; 

At  the  voice  of  thy  thunder  they  hasted  away  (Ps.  civ.  6-7). 

Thou  calledst  in  trouble,  and  I  delivered  thee  ; 

I  answered  thee  in  the  secret  places  of  thunder  (Ixxxi.  7). 

Also,  at  our  Lord's  baptism,  there  came  a  voice  from  heaven, 
probably  in  thunder  tones,  saying,  *  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in 
whom  I  am  well  pleased;  hear  ye  Him'  (Mat.  iii.  17);  and  the 
same  at  His  transfiguration.  Moreover,  when  He  prayed, 
'  Father,  glorify  thy  name  '  (xvii.  5),  there  came  a  voice  of 
thunder  from  heaven,  saying,  '  I  have  both  glorified  it,  and  will 
glorify  it  again  '  (John  xii.  27-29).  Finally  He  gave  the  name, 
'  sons  of  thunder  '  (Mark  iii.  17)  to  James  and  John  apparently 


SECRET  THINGS  BELONG  UNTO  THE  LORD 


199 


on  account  of  their  great  power  in  preaching  the  gospel. 
From  such  indications  as  these  we  may  gather  that  the  gen- 
eral import  of  these  thunders  was  of  a  benign  and  gracious 
character:  perhaps  great  revivals  in  the  church,  and  great 
successes  in  her  evangelizing  and  missionary  work;  perhaps 
the  translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  all  languages,  and  their 
distribution  among  all  nations;  perhaps  Ethiopia  stretching 
forth  her  hands  unto  God;  the  Christianizing  of  England, 
France,  Holland,  Germany,  Sweden,  Norway,  Denmark, 
Russia,  America,  the  Sandwich  Islands,  Tahita,  Madagascar, 
New  Zealand;  and  other  triumphs  of  the  gospel  yet  to  come, 
more  extensive  and  more  glorious  than  any  that  have  ever 
been  known.  Indeed,  what  seems  most  probable  to  me  is, 
that  these  thunders  revealed  to  St.  John  for  his  great  consola- 
tion the  glories  of  the  Lord's  millennial  reign;  for,  as  we 
shall  see  hereafter,  a  similar  reticence  is  observed  with 
respect  to  its  particulars,  where  we  should  naturally  expect 
the  most  ample  details  and  the  most  glowing  word-pictures 
(Rev.  XX.  1-6).  Hence  the  joyful  haste  with  which  he  was 
about  to  write  and  publish  what  he  had  heard,  when  he  was 
prohibited  by  the  voice  from  heaven.  Yet  it  must  be 
acki  owledged  that  all  such  conjectures  are  uncertain;  for 
the  appearance  of  the  angel  may  be  otherwise  understood,, 
and  thunder  has  not  always  a  gracious  significance. 

5  And  the  angel  whom  I  saw  standing  upon  the  sea  and  upon  the 
earth  lilted  up  his  right  hand  to  heaven,  6  and  s-ware  by  Him  v/ho 
liveth  forever  and  ever,  w^ho  created  heaven  and  the  things  that  are 
therein,  and  the  earth  and  the  things  that  are  therein,  and  the  sea  and 
the  things  that  are  therein,  that  time  should  be  no  longer:  7  but  in 
the  days  of  the  voice  of  the  seventh  angel,  when  he  must  sound  his 
trumpet,  then  the  mystery  of  God  should  be  accomplished,  as  He  de- 
clared the  glad  tidings  to  His  servants  the  prophets. 

This  glorious  angel,  standing  upon  the  sea  and  upon  the 
earth,  raising  his  right  hand  to  heaven,  and  taking  a  solemn 
oath  by  Him  who  created  all  things,  offers  to  the  universe  a 
spectacle  of  almost  unapproachable  sublimity.  The  trans- 
action is  an  ample  justification  of  solemn  oaths  on  proper 
occasions  ;  and  it  gives  us  the  Scriptural  form  in  which  they 


200  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

ought  always  to  be  taken,  i.  e.  by  raising  the  right  hand  to 
heaven,  and  not  by  kissing  the  Bible.  The  import  of  this 
oath  is,  that  the  course  of  time  with  respect  to  earthly  things 
is  about  to  come  to  an  end  ;  that  during  the  period  desig- 
nated as  '  the  days  of  the  voice  of  the  seventh  angel,'  '  the 
mystery  of  God,'  i.  e.  the  mysterious  course  of  His  providence 
as  connected  with  this  world,  should  be  accomplished. 
Hence  we  shall  find  that  all  the  subsequent  visions  up  to  the 
close  go  forth  from  the  sounding  of  this  seventh  trumpet, 
and  are  thus  included  under  it,  just  as  the  trumpets  them- 
selves go  forth  from  the  seventh  seal  (163).  Thus  we  see  that 
this  last  trumpet  includes  a  period  of  time,  which  makes  it 
plain  that  what  St.  Paul  says  concerning  it  must  be  under- 
stood of  its  close  :  "  Behold,  I  show  you  a  mystery  :  we  shall 
not  all  sleep,  but  we  shall  all  be  changed,  in  a  moment,  in 
the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  at  the  last  trump  :  for  the  trumpet 
shall  sound,  and  the  dead  shall  be  raised  incorruptible,  and 
we  shall  be  changed.  .  .  .  Then  shall  come  to  pass  the  saying 
that  is  written  :  Death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory  (40).  O 
Death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  O  Hades,  where  is  thy  victory  ?  " 
(i  Cor.  XV.  51-56).  The  joyfulness  of  this  crowning  result  is 
beautifully  anticipated  in  the  closing  words  of  this  vision 
(133),  'as  Ke  declared  the  glad  tidings  to  His  servants  the 
prophets,'  for  the  word  here  is  the  same  that  is  commonly 
rendered  to  preach  the  gospel. 

I.  The  fact,  that  the  Apocalyptist  was  forbidden  to  record 
what  the  seven  thunders  revealed  to  him,  seems  to  imply  an 
additional  reason  why  the  disclosures  of  this  book  are  made 
in  symbolical  representations  (5-9),  which  cannot  be  under- 
stood to  edification  without  much  study  and  prayer  :  for  it 
may  be  that,  without  such  preparation,  if  they  could  be  under- 
stood at  all,  they  would  do  harm  rather  than  good  (197).  It 
is  true  that  no  part  of  the  word  of  God  can  be  profitable  to 
careless  or  prayerless  souls,  yet  this  may  be  true  in  an  emi- 
nent sense  of  the  mysterious  truths  here  symbolized;  and  this 
may  be  the  reason  why  so  many  find  in  them,  as  also  in  the 
other  Scriptures,  little  or  no  interest  or  spiritual  quickening  ; 
and  why,  to  those  who  diligently  and  prayerfully  study  them, 


SECRET  THINGS  BELONG  UNTO  THE  LORD  20 1 

they  have  a  never  failing,  ever  increasing  freshness  and  vital- 
ity, as  the  bread  and  the  water  of  life  to  satisfy  the  hunger 
and  thirst  of  their  souls, 

2.  There  is  a  pregnant  meaning  for  us  all  in  the  frequent 
reference  to  the  end  of  the  world  which  runs  through  this 
book  and,  indeed,  throughout  the  Scriptures.  Here  it  is  in 
the  form  of  a  great  oath  by  this  glorious  angel,  who  repre- 
sents, in  some  sort,  the  Lord  Himself,  'that  time  shall  be  no 
longer.'  And  death,  which  is  the  end  of  our  time,  is  con- 
stantly occurring,  and  may  come  to  us  at  any  moment. 
This  is,  indeed,  a  truism,  yet  it  is  one  that  can  never  lose  its 
tremendous  significance,  though  commonly  it  is  so  little  re- 
garded. How  soon  the  great  oath  of  this  angel  may  be  ful- 
filled in  our  experience,  we  cannot  tell.  Are  we  ready  for  it  ? 
That  is  for  us  the  question  of  all  questions,  which  here 
presses  upon  us,  and  clamors  for  an  answer.  For  this  end 
of  time  to  those  whom  it  shall  find  unprepared  for  it  will  be 
no  less  terrible  than  it  will  be  joyful  to  those  whom  it  shall 
find  prepared  and  waiting  for  their  Lord's  coming  and  the 
end  of  the  world,  '  as  He  declared  the  glad  tidings  to  His 
servants  the  prophets.' 


9* 


XXIII 

THE    LITTLE   BOOK    OF   THE    END       THE    SWEETNESS    AND 
BITTERNESS   OF   PROPHECY      X    8-1 1 

This  vision  is  a  continuation  of  the  last,  and  is  best  com- 
prehended under  the  sixth  trumpet  in  further  preparation 
for  the  seventh  (195).  Here,  however,  it  maybe  well  to  recall 
what  has  been  previously  observed,  namely,  that  there  is  a 
certain  cyclical  movement  in  these  successive  series  of  revel- 
ations, such  that  each  of  them,  except  the  last,  covers  a  great 
part  of  the  current  dispensation  (14).  Yet  in  each  succeed- 
ing one  there  is  a  certain  advance  beyond  the  preceding  ; 
that  is  to  say,  there  is  an  ever  increasing  effulgence  of  the 
divine  glory,  which  bursts  forth  in  all  its  splendors  from  the 
Golden  City,  '  descending  out  of  heaven  from  God,  having 
the  glory  of  God'  (Rev.  xxi.  11).  Moreover,  the  several 
series,  as  they  advance,  dwell  more  and  more  on  the  things 
that  are  nearest  to  the  end,  so  that  we  feel  ourselves  borne 
irresistibly  onwards  to  the  closing  scene.  Hence  the  appear- 
ance here  of  this  glorious  angel  announcing  the  end  of  time: 
and  now  also  the  Seer  informs  us  how  he  was  commissioned 
to  prophesy  more  fully  and  particularly  concerning  the  end, 
and  to  tell  us  what  should  take  place  'in  the  days  of 
the  voice  of  the  seventh  angel  .  .  when  the  mystery  of 
God  should  be  accomplished'  (199).  In  what  follows,  as, 
indeed,  throughout  the  book,  there  is  nothing  elsewhere  that 
can  be  compared  with  the  graphic  vividness  of  the  word- 
painting. 

8  And  the  voice  ■which  I  heard  from  heaven,  [I  heard  it]  aj^ain  speak- 
ing with  me,  and  saying,  Go  take  the  book  w^hich  is  opened  in  the 
hand  of  the  angel  who  standeth  upon  the  sea  and  upon  the  earth. 

This  voice  from  heaven  he  has  heard  three  times  before: 
(i)  when  it  called  him  to  receive  these  apocah'ptic  visions 
(202) 


SWEETNESS  AND  BITTERNESS  OF  PROPHECY     203 

(28);  (2)  when  it  commanded  him  to  come  up  into  heaven 
fio8),  that  he  might  see  all  things  from  the  heavenly  point 
of  view;  (3)  when  it  forbade  him  to  write  what  the  seven 
thunders  revealed  (197);  (4)  and  now  he  hears  it  again  com- 
manding him  to  go  and  take  the  little  book  out  of  the  angel's 
hand.  In  none  of  these  instances,  nor  in  several  that  will 
follow,  are  we  informed  whose  voice  it  was;  wherein  it  con- 
forms to  that  which  spoke  from  heaven  at  the  baptism,  trans- 
figuration, and  agony  of  the  Lord  (198):  but  on  all  these 
occasions  it  evidently  represented  the  authority,  and  prob- 
ably the  person,  of  God  the  Father.  In  the  first  two  in- 
stances, it  called  the  Seer  to  receive  and  publish  what  should 
be  revealed  to  him,  and  now  it  commissions  him  for  a  similar 
ministry  concerning  the  revelations  that  are  to  follow.  These 
are  represented  as  contained  in  a  book  brought  down  from 
heaven  by  the  angel  who  announces  the  end,  to  denote  that 
they  are  from  God,  and  that  they  pertain  to  the  consumma- 
tion of  His  purposes  and  providence.  The  book  is  'opened,' 
to  signify  that  it  is,  in  some  sort,  a  part  of  the  seven- 
sealed  one  which  has  been  already  opened  by  the  Lamb 
(122)  ;  and  accordingly  we  shall  see  that  its  contents  are 
chiefly  a  more  particular  disclosure  of  what,  in  the  cyclical 
movement  of  the  successive  visions,  has  been  touched  upon 
before,  especially  at  the  opening  of  the  sixth  seal  (149). 
It  is  a  'little'  book,  this  point  being  emphasized  by  several 
repetitions,  to  signify  that  it  contains  but  a  small  part  of 
what  was  written  in  the  great  book  with  the  seven  seals,  and 
that  comparatively  little  remains  to  be  disclosed,  though  its 
particulars  may  occupy  a  large  space,  before  the  mystery 
shall  be  accomplished.  For  what  purpose  the  Seer  is  now 
commanded  to  go  and  take  this  book  out  of  the  hand  of  the 
angel  we  shall  immediately  see. 

9  And  I  went  unto  the  angel,  saying  unto  him  that  he  should  give 
me  the  little  book :  and  he  saith  unto  me,  Take  it,  and  eat  it  up  ;  and 
it  shall  make  thy  belly  bitter,  but  in  thy  mouth  it  shall  be  sweet  as 
honey. 

The  word  of  God  is  often  represented  under  the  image  of 


204 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


bread,  to  signify  that  it  is  the  bread  of  life,  the  food  of  the 
soul:' "Man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word 
that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God  "  (Mat.  iv.  4).  In 
fact,  this  image  is  as  old  as  the  time  of  Moses,  from  whom 
our  Lord  quotes  it.  Also  the  sweetness  of  this  spiritual  food 
is  often  symbolized  by  that  of  honey: 

How  sweet  are  thy  words  to  my  taste  ! 
Than  honey  to  my  mouth  (Ps.  cxix.  3). 

Hence  the  prophets  often  speak  of  eating  God's  words,  to 
signify  the  receiving  and  appropriating  of  them  by  their 
spiritual  faculties,  as  in  the  following  passages:  "Thy  words 
were  found,  and  I  did  eat  them;  and  thy  words  were  unto 
me  a  joy  and  the  rejoicing  of  my  heart  (Jer.  xv.  16).  Thou, 
son  of  man,  hear  what  I  say  unto  thee  .  .  open  thy  mouth 
and  eat  that  I  give  thee.  And  when  I  looked,  behold,  a  hand 
was  put  forth  unto  me;  and,  lo,  a  roll  of  a  book  was  in  it; 
and  He  spread  it  before  me;  and  it  was  written  within  and 
without;  and  there  were  written  therein  lamentations  and 
mourning  and  woe.  And  He  said  unto  me.  Son  of  man,  eat 
that  thou  findest;  eat  this  roll,  and  go  speak  unto  the  house 
of  Israel.  So  I  opened  my  mouth,  and  He  caused  me  to  eat 
the  roll.  And  He  said  unto  me.  Son  of  man,  cause  thy  belly 
to  eat,  and  fill  thy  bowels  with  this  roll  that  I  give  thee. 
Then  I  did  eat  it,  and  it  was  in  my  mouth  as  honey  for  sweet- 
ness "  (Ez.  ii.  8-9;  iii.  1-3).  These  striking  images  have  the 
same  meaning  here,  namely,  that  our  Seer  received  and 
appropriated  the  revelations  contained  in  this  little  book,  so 
that  he  could  record  and  publish  them  just  as  they  were 
communicated.  And  they  were  as  honey  to  his  taste,  not 
only  as  being  the  word  of  God,  but  also  because  they  were 
apocalyptic  disclosures  of  future  events  in  the  history  of  the 
church  and  the  world.  For  we  have  seen  how  grievously  he 
was  disappointed,  and  '  wept  much '  when,  after  he  had 
been  promised  such  disclosures,  no  one  was  found  able  to 
open  the  seven-sealed  book,  and  was  not  comforted  until  one 
of  the  throned  elders  assured  him  that  the  Lion  of  the  tribe 
of  Judah  had  prevailed  to  loose  its  seals  (119).     Such  is  the 


SWEETNESS  AND  BITTERNESS  OF  PROPHECY      205 

intense  desire  of  the  human  heart  to  penetrate  the  secrets  of 
futurity,  even  where,  as  in  this  case,  it  is  chastened  by  faith 
and  submission  to  tlie  divine  wisdom:  and  the  surpassing 
sweetness  of  such  disclosures  is  evinced  by  nothing  more, 
perhaps,  than  by  the  almost  innumerable  books  that  have 
been  written,  some  of  them  by  the  greatest  and  most  saintly 
men,  to  understand  and  impart  to  others  the  mysteries  of  the 
future  which  the  Apocalypse  unveils.  Certainly,  then,  it  is 
no  sign  of  intelligence,  nor  of  any  deep  interest  in  spiritual 
things,  that  it  is  so  generally  regarded  as  still  a  sealed 
book. 

But  why,  we  must  now  enquire,  did  the  Seer  experience 
such  bitterness  after  he  had  inwardly  digested  the  revela- 
tions of  this  little  book  of  the  end  ?  Why  did  they  not  con- 
tinue to  be  sweet  and  joyful  to  his  heart  ?  Doubtless  it  was 
because  they  contained  the  gloomiest  pictures  of  sin,  judg- 
ment, and  woe.  For  now  he  sees,  what  hitherto  has  not  been 
shown  him  in  such  amplitude  of  particulars,  those  judgments 
and  sufferings  which  must  yet  be  experienced  before  his 
Lord's  kingdom  can  be  finally  established,  and  which  cause 
him  the  bitterest  disappointment  and  most  poignant  anguish. 
Having  just  heard  what  the  seven  thunders  spake,  and  been 
filled  with  what  seems  to  have  been  their  glowing  revela- 
tions of  the  future  prosperity  and  glory  of  the  church,  he 
naturally  supposes  he  has  reached  the  end  of  painful  dis- 
closures, and  that  henceforth  he  shall  have  a  smooth  sea  and 
favoring  gales  ;  that  his  delightful  duty  will  be  to  record  the 
fulfilment  of  the  Lord's  blessed  promises  ;  that  there  will  be 
in  future  a  steady  progress  and  an  ever  increasing  effulgence 
of  grace  and  glory  up  to  the  final  establishment  of  the  king- 
dom, and  even  to  the  close  of  the  dispensation.  He  has  not 
foreseen  the  slaughter  of  God's  two  witnesses  by  a  beast  out 
of  the  abyss,  nor  the  two  beasts  out  of  the  sea  and  the  earth, 
clothed  with  all  the  power  of  the  great  red  dragon,  causing 
all  the  world  to  worship  them,  nor  the  seven  last  plagues, 
nor  the  harlotry  nor  the  judgments  of  great  Babylon.  Least 
of  all  can  he  have  foreseen  that  Satan,  after  having  been 
chained   and   shut    up   in   the   abyss   for  a  thousand    years. 


206  'riSDCM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

will  be  loosed  again,  and  go  out  to  deceive  the  nations. 
But  all  these  fearful  revelations  he  now  finds  in  this  little 
book  of  the  end  :  no  wonder,  then,  that  they  fill  his  heart 
with  the  bitterest  disappointment  and  sorrow.  Yet  it  is  only 
thus  that  he  can  be  duly  prepared  to  prophesy  concerning 
them, 

1 1  And  they  say  unto  me,  Thou  must  prophesy  again  concerning 
peoples  and  nations  and  tongues  and  kings  many. 

There  is  some  uncertainty  here  as  to  the  text,  for  while  the 
best  manuscripts  have  'they  say,'  there  are  other  good  ones 
in  which  we  find  *  he  saith.'  If  this  latter  be  correct,  it  refers 
to  the  angel  from  whom  the  Seer  receives  the  little  book  ;  if 
the  former,  it  may  include  the  angel  and  the  voice  from 
heaven,  both  telling  him  that  he  must  prophesy  again  ;  or, 
which  is  more  probable,  it  may  be  taken  indefinitely  in  the 
sense  that  it  was  said  to  him.  The  variation,  however,  is  of  lit- 
tle importance,  for  in  any  case  he  must  now  take  up  his  burden 
again,  and  with  deepest  sorrow  for  the  sins  and  sufferings  of 
his  fellow  man  must  declare  and  publish  what  he  finds  writ- 
ten in  the  book,  and  must  faithfully  report  the  visions  of 
judgment  with  which  its  contents  are  to  be  unfolded  and 
emphasized:  prophecies  'concerning  peoples  and  nations 
and  tongues  and  kings  many,'  in  which  form  of  expressions 
we  have  an  indication  that  nations  and  secular  governments 
are  now  to  be  dealt  with  by  *  the  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of 
lords '  (Rev.  xix.  i6),  and  perhaps  of  the  more  historical  char- 
acter of  the  following  visions. 

Such  is  the  plain  meaning  of  these  apocalyptic  symbols,  in 
further  illustration  of  which  we  should  observe,  that  this 
sorrowwhich  St.  John  experienced  seems  to  be  inseparable 
from  the  gift  of  prophecy,  and  from  deep  insight  into  the 
nature  and  consequences  of  sin.  All  the  preceding  prophets 
complained  of  it,  often  in  the  most  pathetic  expressions. 
For  notwithstanding  the  glories  and  beatitudes  of  the  com- 
ing kingdom  concerning  which  they  prophesied,  the  sins  and 
judgments  and  sufferings  through  which  the  world  must 
pass  before  it  could  be  finally  established  always  filled  their 


SWEETNESS  AND  BI TTERNESS  OF  PROPHECY      20/ 

hearts  with  unutterable  anguish,  which  colored  with  its  own 
sombre  hues  their  glowing  anticipations.  It  is  true,  they 
saw  with  all  clearness  that  these  judgments  and  woes  were 
the  necessary  consequences  of  sin  and  rebellion  against  God, 
but  this,  instead  of  mitigating,  only  increased  their  sorrow, 
as  expressed  with  the  deepest  pathos  in  many  such  passages 
as  the  following  : 

My  tears  have  been  my  meat  day  and  night, 

While  they  continually  say  unto  me,  Where  is  thy  God  ?    (Ps.  xlii.  3). 

Rivers  of  water  run  down  mine  eyes. 

Because  they  keep  not  thy  law  (cxix.  136). 

Oh  that  my  head  were  waters, 

And  mine  eyes  a  fountain  of  tears. 

That  I  might  weep  day  and  night 

For  the  slain  of  the  daughter  of  my  people  !     (Jer.  ix.  i). 

This  doubtless  was  one  reason  why  they  called  their  mes- 
sages burdens  :  "The  burden  of  Egypt  .  .  .  The  burden  of 
Moab  ,  .  ,  The  burden  of  Tyre  .  .  .  The  burden  of  Nineveh 
.  .  .  The  burden  of  Babylon  "  (Is.  xix.  i),  and  many  others. 
Even  God  Himself  is  represented  as  bearing  this  burden  of 
sorrow  : 

Oh  that  thou  hadst  hearkened  unto  my  commandments  ; 

Then  had  thy  peace  been  as  a  river. 

And  thy  righteousness  as  the  waves  of  the  sea  (Is.  xlviii.  18). 

Thus  also  the  Lord  wept  over  Jerusalem  :  "  And  when  He 
was  come  near  He  beheld  the  city  and  wept  over  it,  saying. 
Oh  that  thou  hadst  known,  even  thou,  at  least  in  this  thy 
day,  the  things  that  belong  unto  thy  peace:  but  now  they  are 
hid  from  thine  eyes  (Luke  xix.  41).  O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem, 
that  killest  the  prophets,  and  stonest  them  that  are  sent  unto 
thee,  how  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together 
as  a  hen  doth  gather  her  chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye 
would  not !  Behold,  your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate  : 
for  I  say  unto  you,  ye  shall  not  see  me  henceforth  till  ye 
shall  say,  Blessed  is  He  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  "  (Mat.  xxiii.  37-39). 

And  we  ourselves,  although  the  study  of  prophecy  does 
not  make  us  prophets,  yet,  while  we  ponder  their  messages. 


2o8  WISDOM  OF  THE  AFOCAL  YFSE 

cannot  fail  to  take  upon  ourselves  some  portion  of  their  bur- 
den, nor  to  be  touched  with  their  sorrow.  For  notwithstand- 
ing the  certainty  and  glory  of  the  crowning  result,  which  in 
anticipation  is  a  well-spring  of  joy  to  all  believing  souls,  yet 
the  sins  and  judgments  of  mankind  through  which  it  must 
be  reached  at  last  are  a  grievous  burden,  too  heavy  indeed 
for  us  to  bear  in  our  own  strength.  Fain  would  we  have  it 
otherwise.  Glad  indeed  should  we  be  if  the  Lord's  peo- 
ple could  attain  to  their  white  robes,  their  crowns  and 
palms,  without  passing  through  '  the  great  tribulation  '  (i6o). 
But  so  it  cannot  be,  either  for  the  individual  soul,  or  the  re- 
deemed race.  For  it  is  only  through  plagues  of  wild  beasts, 
war,  pestilence,  and  famine  ;  through  earthquakes,  volcanoes, 
tornadoes,  falling  stars,  and  darkened  suns  ;  through  con- 
flagrations, shipwrecks,  railway  disasters,  explosions,  sick- 
nesses, and  death  ;  through  seas  of  martyr  blood,  and  the 
judgments  by  which  it  must  be  avenged  ;  through  times  of 
general  apostasy,  when  the  corpses  of  God's  witnesses  lie 
unburied  in  the  streets  of  the  great  city  of  this  world  ; 
through  the  sorceries,  adulteries,  and  judgments  of  great 
Babylon  ;  through  the  seven  plagues  poured  out  upon  man- 
kind from  the  seven  golden  chalices  of  the  wrath  of  God; 
through  the  final  rebellion  of  the  nations  deceived  by  Satan 
loosed  from  his  chains  :  it  is  only  through  such  experiences 
as  these  that  the  earth  shall  be  finally  delivered  from  the 
primeval  curse  ;  that  the  white-robed  people  shall  enter  into 
the  Golden  City,  and  take  up  their  everlasting  abode  upon 
the  banks  of  the  river  of  the  water  of  life,  which  flows  forth 
out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb,  and  shall  eat  of  the 
fruit  of  the  tree  of  life,  whose  leaves  are  for  the  healing  of 
the  nations.  Ah,  how  different  is  all  this  from  what  we 
should  have  anticipated  !  How  gladly  would  we  have  had 
it  otherwise  !  For  to  us  it  would  seem  that  the  Lord's  king- 
dom should  have  gone  steadily  onwards  from  the  first,  ever 
increasing  in  extent,  power,  and  glory,  until  the  promises 
should  all  be  fulfilled.  *  But  God's  thoughts  are  not  our 
thoughts,  nor  His  ways  our  ways  '  (Is.  Ixv.  8).  What  a  fearful 
reaction  followed  the  first  brilliant  successes  of  the  Gospel  ! 


SWEETNESS  AND  BITTERNESS  OF  PROPHECY 


209 


What  an  apostasy  in  the  Roman  church  ;  what  corruption  in 
the  Greek  !  What  a  crying  necessity  for  the  Reformation  of 
the  sixteenth  century!  Of  all  this,  indeed,  the  history  has 
been  written,  and  it  now  causes  us  little  or  no  surprise.  But 
the  disappointment  of  the  boundless  hopes  of  that  Reforma- 
tion through  the  baleful  sectarianism  developed  out  of  it, 
and  the  hardly  less  need  of  another  to  restore  the  catholic 
unity  of  the  church,  for  which  the  Lord  so  earnestly  prayed 
in  order  'that  the  world  might  believe  '  (John  xvii.  23):  the 
history  of  all  this  has  yet  to  be  written,  when  the  enormous 
evil  of  our  sectarianism  shall  have  come  to  be  recognized. 

Thus  has  it  ever  been,  and  thus,  as  we  are  instructed  by 
all  the  prophets,  will  it  continue  to  be  till  the  end  ;  for  even 
the  millennium  will  be  followed  by  a  period  of  apostasy  and 
judgment.  And  what  does  it  all  mean,  but  the  measureless 
depth  and  darkness  and  horror  of  sin,  the  malignity  of  man's 
rebellion  against  God  ?  It  was  this  that  crucified  the  Lord 
of  glory,  and  shed  the  blood  of  the  martyrs.  Hence  the 
Romish  and  Greek  corruptions  and  Protestant  sectarianism. 
It  is  this  which  has  brought,  and  will  continue  to  bring,  such 
fearful  judgments  upon  the  nations,  because  nothing  else  can 
subdue  their  obstinate  rebellion  against  their  true  and  lawful 
Sovereign.  It  is  an  infinite  sorrow.  How  gladly  would  we 
have  it  otherwise  !  But  in  all  this  turmoil  of  guilt  and  pun- 
ishment not  one  of  the  Lord's  trusting  people  shall  be  left  to 
perish,  having  the  seal  of  His  covenant  on  their  foreheads 
(157);  that  is,  the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise  in  their  souls.  For 
all  others  'there  remains  only  a  certain  looking-for  of  judg- 
ment and  fiery  indignation  which  shall  destroy  the  adver- 
saries '  (Heb.  X.  27).  And  thus  the  evil  that  is  in  the  world 
shall  at  last  come  to  an  end,  for  without  this  no  prophecy 
closes. 


XXIV 

THE  TEMPLE  MEASURED  THE  COURT  OF  THE  GENTILES 
CAST  OUT  THE  SAFETY  OF  THE  TRUE  CHURCH 
NOMINAL   CHRISTIANS   REJECTED       XI    i-2 

This  vision  also  is  best  comprehended  under  the  sixth  trum- 
pet in  still  further  preparation  for  the  seventh.  It  is  closely 
connected  with  that  of  the  sealing  of  the  cxliv  thousand 
representing  in  part  the  same  idea  (154),  i.  e.  the  safety  of 
the  people  of  God  amidst  the  judgments  falling  upon  the 
guilty  world.  But  here  this  idea  is  strongly  contrasted,  as  it 
is  not  there,  with  the  state  of  mere  nominal  Christians,  who 
in  this  life  are  associated  with  believers. 

I  And  there  was  given  unto  me  a  reed  like  unto  a  rod,  saying, 
Arise,  and  measure  the  temple  of  God  and  the  altar  and  them  that 
worship  therein. 

In  the  English  Bible  we  have  the  words,  *  and  the  angel 
stood  saying,'  but  there  is  no  'angel '  in  the  best  manuscripts. 
No  doubt,  this  word  was  introduced  by  some  copyist  to  sup- 
ply a  grammatical  subject  for  'saying,'  where  the  author 
chose  to  leave  it  unexpressed  on  account  of  the  indefinite- 
ness  of  the  preceding  statement  as  to  who  gave  him  the  reed. 
This  he  does  not  tell  us,  nor  by  whom  the  command  was 
given,  but  evidently  he  means  us  to  understand  that  it  was  all 
by  divine  authority.  This  reed  was  simply  a  measuring  in- 
strument, but  it  was  '  like  unto  a  rod  '  with  a  deep  significance: 
for  the  rod  was  the  instrument  with  which  land  was  measured 
or  surveyed  for  the  purpose  of  determining  its  ownership, 
and  hence  it  became  a  symbol  of  secure  possession,  as  in  the 
following  :  "The  rod  of  the  wicked  shall  not  rest  upon  the 
lot  of  the  righteous  (Ps.  cxxv.  3).  The  rod  of  thine  inherit- 
ance which  thou  hast  redeemed,  mount  Zion,  wherein  thou 

(2  TO) 


TRUE  CHRISTIANS  SAVED     OTHES'S  REJECTED     21I 

hast  dwelt  (Ixxiv.  2).     Israel  is  the  rod  of  His  inheritance" 
(Jer.  X.  16),     Also,  it  is  a  Scriptural  symbol  of  the  power  of 
the  Lord  :   "  The    Lord   will  stretch    forth    the    rod   of  thy 
strength  out  of  Zion  "  (Ps.  ex.  2),  and  of  the  strong  consola- 
tions wherewith  He  comforts  His  people  :  "  Thy  rod  and  thy 
staff  they  comfort  me"  (xxiii.  4).     The  temple  here,  as  else- 
where, is  the  symbol  of  the  true  church  :  "  Ye  are  the  temple 
of  God.  .  .  .The  temple  of  the  living  God.  .  .  .  Which  temple 
ye  are"  {q^,).     This  altar,  by  which  is  to  be  understood  the 
golden  altar  of  incense  (165),  symbolizes  the  life  of  prayer 
and  worship  which  is  ever  a  distinguishing  trait  of  the  Lord's 
people  :    and   '  them    that   worship   therein '   is  added    as  a 
literal  interpretation  of  the  symbols  of  the  temple  and  the 
altar,  just  as  'distress  of  nations  with  perplexity'  interpret 
the  symbol  of  '  the  sea  and  the  waves  roaring '  (Luke  xxi.  25). 
The  importance  attached  to  this  symbol  of  measuring  the 
temple  appears  from  the  fact,  that  the  New  Jerusalem  is  thus 
measured  (Rev.  xxi.  15-17),  and  also  the  temple  in  the  visions 
of  Ezekiel  :  "  And,  behold,  there  was  a  man  whose  appear- 
ance was  like  unto  the  appearance  of  brass,  with  .  .  a  measur- 
ing reed.  ...  So  he  measured  the  .  .  building  .  .  .  and  the 
threshold  of  the  gate  .  .  and   every  Tttle  chamber  .  .  and 
between  the  little  chambers  .  .  also  the  porch  of  the  gate 
.  .  and  the  parts  thereof  .  .  and  the  breadth  of  the  entry  of 
the  gate  "  (Ez.  xl.,  xli.,  xlii.):  and  so  on,  with  the  utmost  par- 
ticularity, throughout  the  building.     Hence  it  is  clothed  with 
great  fulness  of  meaning.     For  as  the  accurate  measuring  of 
one's  land  implies  the  most  perfect  knowledge  of  its  bound- 
aries and  extent  with   reference    to    its  defence  against  all 
other  claimants,  so  this  measuring  of  the  temple  with  'a  reed 
like  unto  a  rod  *  represents  the  Lord's  people  as  perfectly 
known  to  Him  in  the  sharpest  distinction  between  them  and 
all  others,  as  His  peculiar  inheritance  which  He  will  by  no 
means  suffer  to  be  alienated,  as   His   cherished  possession 
which  He  will  defend  and  protect  against  all  invaders.     In 
like  manner,  St.  Paul  prays  for  his  fellow  Christians,  *  that 
they  might  know  what  was  the  hope  of  His  calling,  what  the 
riches  of  the  glory  of  His  inheritance  in  the  saints  '  (Eph. 


212  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

\.  i8).  The  leading  idea  is  the  perfect  security  of  the  people 
of  God,  as  depending  upon  the  perfection  of  His  knowledge 
of  them  and  of  all  their  circumstances,  and  upon  His  purpose 
to  hold  them  as  His  inalienable  inheritance  and  possession. 

But  why,  we  must  now  enquire,  since  the  safety  of  the 
righteous  has  been  st)  fully  represented  before  in  the  vision 
of  numbering  and  sealing  them,  is  it  here  exhibited  again, 
and  that  under  a  symbol  which  differs  so  little  from  the  pre- 
ceding? This  repetition  seems  to  be  grounded  upon  several 
reasons  :  (i)  It  may  be  intended  to  give  additional  emphasis 
to  the  idea,  to  keep  it  from  being  lost  sight  of  even  for  a  mo- 
ment :  (2)  It  is  very  necessary  that  the  faith  of  God's  people 
should  be  strongly  confirmed  in  view  of  the  subsequent  dis- 
closures, especially  those  of  the  next  vision,  in  which  we  shall 
see  the  Lord's  witnesses  overcome  and  slain  by  a  beast  that 
rises  out  of  the  abyss  :  (3)  But  the  principal  reason  is,  no 
doubt,  that  in  the  preceding  vision  of  numbering  and  seal- 
ing the  servants  of  God  there  is  only  a  general  reference  to 
the  vast  multitude  of  mere  nominal  Christians  (158),  who 
in  every  age  have  been  more  or  less  closely  connected  with 
the  church,  and  partakers,  to  some  extent  at  least,  of  the 
benefits  of  Christianity.  What  are  we  to  understand  con- 
cerning them  ?  What  is  their  true  relatiun  to  the  church  ? 
What  is  to  become  of  them  at  last  ?  These  are  the  questions 
which  are  now  to  be  considered;  and  all  true  as  well  as  nomi- 
nal Christians  may  well  take  knowledge  of  the  answers  which 
are  here  given. 

2  And  the  court  which  is  without  the  temple  cast  out,  and  it  thou 
shalt  not  measure,  for  it  was  given  unto  the  gentiles ;  and  the  holy 
city  they  shall  tread  forty  and  two  months. 

In  the  court  which  surrounded  the  temple  at  Jerusalem 
strangers,  gentiles,  heathen  were  allowed;  but  they  were 
prohibited  by  inscriptions  or  placards  on  its  walls  and  pil- 
lars from  penetrating  further  into  the  sacred  inclosure. 
Hence  it  was  called  the  court  of  the  gentiles,  as  it  is  here 
said  to  have  been  'given  unto  '  them:  and  they  included  all 
of  every   sort  who,  for  any   reason   whatsoever,  associated 


TR  UE  CHRIS  riA  NS  SAVED    0  THER  S  REJEC7ED     2  1 3 

with  the  worshippers  in  the  temple.  Thus  we  see  that,  as 
the  temple  is  the  symbol  of  the  true  church  or  people  of  God, 
this  court  must  be  understood  as  representing  mere  nominal 
Christians:  and  the  Seer  is  forbidden  to  measure  it,  and  com- 
manded to  cast  it  out  of  his  measurement,  to  signify  that  they 
do  not  belong  to  the  Lord's  measured,  numbered,  and  sealed 
people,  and  have  neither  part  nor  lot  in  the  great  salv.ation. 
Yet  they  cannot  be  wholly  separated  from  the  church  until 
the  end  of  the  world,  as  the  tares  cannot  be  separated  from 
the  wheat  until  the  harvest  (Mat.  xiii.  28).  Incidentally,  there- 
fore, they  are  partakers  in  this  life  of  many  of  the  benefits  of 
the  Christian  religion.  This  is  a  boon  which  they  enjoy  from 
their  association  with  Christians;  and  in  this  sense  it  is  here 
said  that  the  court  was  'given  '  unto  them. 

In  what  follows  there  is  a  pointed  reference  to  the  words. 
of  the  Lord  :  "Jerusalem  shall  be  trodden  of  the  gentiles 
until  the  times  of  the  gentiles  be  fulfilled  "  (Luke  xxi.  24J.. 
For  'the  holy  city'  surrounded  the  court  of  the  gentiles  as 
this  court  surrounded  the  temple  ;  and  since  the  gentiles 
were  allowed  in  the  court,  much  more  were  they  free  to  in- 
habit the  city.  This  is  the  primary  sense  of  the  words, '  the  holy 
city  shall  they  tread';  for  the  word  here  has  the  same  mean- 
ing as  in  the  prophet:  "When  ye  come  to  appear  before  me, 
who  hath  required  this  at  your  hands,  to  tread  [i.  e.  frequent] 
my  courts?"  (Is.  i.  12).  It  is  true  that  our  English  Bible 
renders  this  word  in  the  text  '  tread  under  foot,'  and  in  the 
Lord's  prophecy,  '  trodden  down,'  whilst  in  that  of  Isaiah  the 
Revised  Version  gives  us  '  trample  my  courts.'  But  these  are 
secondary  meanings  of  the  word,  v/hich  the  translators  and 
revisers  adopted  as  expressing  what  they  understood  by  it, 
namely,  the  trampling  down,  profaning,  devastating  the 
courts  of  the  temple  and  the  holy  city;  Avhich  it  certainly  in- 
cludes, yet  only,  as  we  shall  see,  in  a  subordinate  manner. 
Its  primary  meaning  is  to  tread,  in  the  sense  of  frequent. 
Hence  those  who  tread  the  holy  city  and  to  whom  the  outer 
court  is  given  are  those  who  attach  themselves  to  the  church, 
sometimes  as  members  in  full  communion,  but  yet  not  true 
Christians,  sometimes  as  habitual  attendants  and  supporters 


214 


WISDOM  OF  THE  A  FOCAL  YFSE 


of  her  worship,  though  not  regular  members,  together  with 
the  multitudes  who  have  no  other  connection  with  the  church 
than  that  they  inhabit  Christian  countries.  For  these  enjoy 
many  temporal  benefits  and  blessings  from  the  Christian  re- 
ligion, because  the  court  of  the  gentiles  has  been  given  unto 
them,  and  they  are  allowed  to  tread  the  streets  of  the  holy 
city.  But  the  secondary  meanings  of  this  word,  i.  e.  '  to 
tread  down,  under  foot,  trample,'  are  by  no  means  to  be  left 
out  of  view;  for  doubtless  it  was  intended  to  represent  also 
that  dominant  influence  of  the  world  over  the  church  which 
results  from  the  closeness  of  her  association  with  it,  and 
which  brings  her  into  a  state  of  bondage  like  that  of  Israel  in 
Egypt  and  of  the  captives  in  Babylon.  In  this  way  the  gen- 
tiles do  indeed  tread  under  foot  the  holy  city.  This  idea  has 
been  previously  indicated  (68),  and  it  will  be  copiously  devel- 
oped in  subsequent  visions.  The  time,  42  months,  during 
which  this  state  of  things  is  to  continue,  is  the  same  with  the 
1260  days  and  with  the  'time,  times,  and  a  half  time'  (Rev. 
xii.  6,  14;  xiii.  5),  hereafter  to  be  considered.  Its  beginning, 
length,  and  close  have  been  much  disputed,  concerning  which 
I  have  no  more  definite  opinion  to  offer  than  that  it  seems  to 
cover  a  great  part  or  the  whole  of  this  dispensation,  reaching 
even  to  the  separation  of  the  tares  from  the  wheat  (Mat.  xiii. 
30).  Here  it  is  measured  by  months,  probably  with  reference 
to  the  changing  phases  of  the  moon  (185),  to  denote  that  the 
church  is  subject  to  the  unstable  conditions  of  time  and  sense 
while  she  remains  in  such  close  connection  with  the  world. 

The  class  here  represented  as  associated  with,  and  exerting 
such  a  deleterious  influence  upon  the  church,  has  been  more 
or  less  numerous  at  different  times.  Under  the  Old  Testa- 
ment dispensation  it  must  have  been  very  large,  for  the  whole 
people  of  Israel  were  members  of  the  church,  and  the  history 
of  those  times  is  abundant  evidence  that  a  great  proportion 
of  them  were  anything  but  true  believers.  But  when  the 
Lord  came  into  the  world  a  great  deal  of  this  chaff  was  sepa- 
rated from  the  wheat,  for  none  but  sincere  and  prepared 
souls  could  be  induced  to  accept  a  crucified  Saviour.  Hence 
it  was  said  of  Him  at  the  time  :  "Whose  fan  is  in  His  hand, 
and  He  will  thoroughly  cleanse  His  threshing  floor,  and  will 


TRUE  CHRISTIANS  SAVED    OTHERS  REJECTED     215 

gather  His  wheat  into  His  garner,  but  will  burn  up  the 
chaff  with  unquenchable  fire"  (Mat.  iii.  12).  Yet  among  the 
apostles  there  was  a  Judas  Iscariot,  and  in  the  church  at 
Jerusalem  there  were  Ananias  and  Sapphira,  Simon  Magus, 
and,  no  doubt,  other  false  professors.  During  the  martyr 
age  this  cla^s,  for  obvious  reasons,  must  have  been  very 
small  ;  but  when  Christianity  became  the  established  re- 
ligion of  the  Roman  Em.pire,  it  would  naturally  be  immense- 
ly numerous;  and  at  the  present  time  the  circumstances  of 
the  church  render  it  probable  that  her  membership  in- 
cludes multitudes  who  only  frequent  her  outer  court.  In- 
deed, many  are  made  to  appear  such  by  their  falling  away 
into  gross  immoralities,  and,  where  this  does  not  occur,  by 
their  manifest  want  of  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord:  "For  if  any 
man  have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  His  "  (Rom. 
viii.  9).  We  have  in  every  Christian  congregation  also  a  con- 
siderable number  who  do  not  confess  Christ  before  men, 
nor  keep  His  ordinances:  and  beyond  all  these  is  the  great 
outlying  mass  of  those  who  living  in  Christian  countries 
have  no  other  connection  with  the  church.  All  these  are 
here  represented  as  'cast  out '  of  the  Lord's  spiritual  inherit- 
ance. Not  that  church  membership  in  form  is  regarded  as 
essential  to  salvation;  but  it  is  essential  that  the  souls  of 
men  should  be  members  of  the  Lord's  spiritual  body,  of 
which  His  church  is  the  outward  and  visible  sign;  nor  is 
there  any  excuse  for  those  who  fail  to  acknowledge  Him  be- 
fore men  in  His  own  ordinances.  For  they  have  their  lot  in 
Christian  countries,  and  many  of  them  were  born  of  Chris- 
tian parents.  For  them,  as  for  all  others,  Christ  died,  and 
they  haVe  the  free  offer  of  salvation.  What  less,  then,  can 
He  require  of  them  than  that  they  should  identify  them- 
selves heartily  and  openly  with  His  cause;  should  confess 
Him  as  their  Saviour  by  the  believing  observance  of  His 
holy  ordinances  ?  If  they  persist  in  refusing  to  Him  this 
reasonable  service,  He  assures  them  that  He  will  not  confess 
them  before  His  Father  in  heaven,  but  will  cast  them  out, 
saying,  'I  never  knew  you'  (Mat.  vii.  22;  x.  32).  Let  them 
be  wise,  therefore,  whilst  yet  the  door  stands  open  through 
which  they  may  enter,  though  late,  into  His  holy  temple. 


XXV 

THE    BEAST    OUT    OF    THE   ABYSS      THE   LORD'S   TWO   WIT- 
NESSES     FAITH   AND   PRAYER      XI    3-I4 

This  vision,  in  some  respects,  is  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able, and  has  commonly  been  regarded  as  one  of  the  most 
difficult,  in  the  book.  For  it  represents  the  Lord  as  having 
two  witnesses,  who,  therefore,  must  be  eminently  distin- 
guished from  all  others;  and  these,  as  overcome  and  slain  by 
a  beast  that  ascends  out  of  the  abyss;  which  gives  it  a  most 
lurid  coloring  of  spiritual  judgment,  and  calls  forth  our 
wonder  and  awe. 

3  And  I  will  give  unto  my  tw^o  witnesses,  and  they  shall  prophesy  a 
thousand  two  hundred  and  sixty  days  clothed  in  sackcloth. 

We  are  not  informed  who  speaks  these  words,  but  it  is 
sufficiently  evident  that  He  is  the  same  who  has  just  com- 
manded to  measure  the  temple  (210).  The  word  'power,'  as 
in  the  English  Bible,  is  not  in  the  text,  but  the  meaning  of 
this  abrupt  expression  seems  to  be,  I  will  permit  and  ordain 
that  my  two  witnesses  shall  prophesy  in  sackcloth.  They 
are  two,  as  sharply  distinguished  from  any  other  number; 
they  are  witnesses  for  God  or  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
prophets  in  some  eminent  sense  ;  and  the  time  of  their 
prophesying  in  sackcloth  is  1260  days,  the  same  as  42 
months  (214),  which,  as  we  have  seen,  is  that  of  the- pilgrim- 
age of  the  church  of  the  new  dispensation  through  the  wil- 
derness of  this  world,  bearing  the  cross,  identified  with  the 
sufferings  of  her  Saviour;  during  which  she  continues  closely 
connected  with,  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  in  bondage  to  the 
world.  Hence,  i.  e.  on  account  of  the  low  state  of  spiritual 
life,  they  prophesy  in  sackcloth.  But  who  or  what  are  these 
prophetic  witnesses  ?  Here  again  we  have  *  a  Babel  of  interpre- 
tations '  (188),  for  we  are  told  that  they  are  Enoch  and  Elijah, 

(2l6) 


THE  LORD'S  WITNESSES    FAITH  AND  PRAYER     217 

the  law  and  the  prophets,  the  law  and  the  gospel,  Jews  and 
gentiles,  priests  and  magistrates,  church  and  state,  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  preachers  to  the  Jews,  the  whole  line 
of  witnesses  for  the  truth,  the  Waldenses  and  Albigenses,  the 
reformers  of  the  sixteenth  century,  two  persons  who  are  to 
appear  in  the  very  last  times,  and  still  other  persons  and 
things.  It  would  seem  that  every  one  has  guessed  at  the 
meaning  of  the  symbol  as  led  by  his  own  imagination,  with- 
out any  due  regard  to  the  interpretation  which  the  Seer  him- 
self has  given  us  in  what  immediately  follows. 

4  These  are  the  two  olive  trees  and  the  two  light-bearers  that 
stand  before  the  Lord  of  the  earth. 

Here  now  we  evidently  have  an  explanatory  reference  to 
one  of  the  apocalyptic  visions  of  the  prophet  Zechariah,  which 
in  part  is  as  follows:  "  And  the  angel  .  .  said  unto  me.  What 
seest  thou?  And  I  said,  .  .  Behold,  a  light-bearer  all  of  gold, 
with  its  bowl  on  the  top  of  it,  and  its  seven  lamps  thereon, 
and  seven  pipes  to  the  lamps,  .  .  and  two  olive  trees  beside 
it,  one  on  the  right  side  of  the  bowl,  and  the  other  on  the  left 
side  thereof.  And  I  answered  and  spake  unto  the  angel  that 
talked  with  me,  saying,  What  are  these,  my  Lord  ?  .  .  Then 
he  answered  and  spake  unto  me,  saying.  This  is  the  word  of 
the  Lord  unto  Zerubbabel,  saying.  Not  by  an  army  nor  by 
power,  but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.  .  .  .  Then 
I  answered  and  said  unto  him.  What  are  these  two  olive  trees 
on  the  right  side  of  the  light-bearer  and  on  the  left  side 
thereof  ?  And  .  .  what  are  these  two  olive  branches,  which, 
through  the  two  golden  spouts,  empty  the  golden  oil  out  of 
themselves?  .  .  Then  he  said.  These  are  the  two  sons  of  oil 
th"t  stand  by  the  Lord  of  the  whole  earth  "  (Zech.  iv.).  Now 
this  elaborate  symbol  has  always  been  understood  as  a  repre- 
sentation of  the  spiritual  life  of  the  church,  with  special 
reference  to  its  dependence  upon  the  influences  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  also  to  the  means  through  which  these  influences  are 
communicated,  and  to  its  light-giving  power  as  thus  nour- 
ished and  perfected.  For  this  seven-branched  candelabrum, 
with  its  seven  lamps,  which  stood  in  the  sanctuary  of  the 
10 


2 1 8  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

temple  before  the  veil  of  the  Holy  of  Holies,  and  a  repre- 
sentation of  which  is  still  to  be  seen  among  the  spoils  of 
Jerusalem  on  the  arch  of  Titus  at  Rome,  is  a  well-recognized 
symbol  of  the  light-giving  life  of  the  church;  and  the  golden 
or  piecious  oil  with  which  its  lamps  were  fed,  as  all  interpre- 
ters agree,  represented  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
(102).  Hence  these  two  olive  trees,  'sons  of  oil,  that  stand 
before  the  Lord  of  the  earth,'  with  their  two  branches  serv- 
ing as  pipes  through  which  the  oil  is  emptied  into  the  bowl 
on  the  top  of  the  light-bearer  to  feed  the  lamps,  must  stand 
for  the  means  or  instrumentalities  through  which  the  Spirit's 
influences  are  communicated  to  the  church.  Now  our  Seer, 
interpreting  the  symbol  of  the  two  witnesses,  expressly  tells 
us  that  they  are  these  two  olive  trees:  in  other  words,  as  I 
understand  him,  by  due  attention  to  the  vision  of  the  olive 
trees,  we  shall  find  this  of  the  witnesses  sufficiently  inter- 
preted ;  not  that  they  correspond  in  all  their  particulars,  for  in 
the  vision  of  Zechariah  there  is  but  one  candelabrum,  whilst 
in  this  of  St.  John  there  are  two,  but  the  leading  ideas  in 
both  are  the  same.  What,  then,  it  only  re  nains  to  enquire, 
are  the  two  great  means  or  instrumentalities  through  which 
the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  are  communicated  to  the 
church  ?  To  this  question  there  can  be,  of  course,  but  one 
answer,  they  are  Faith  and  Prayer,  for  without  these  all 
other  means  are  inefficacious.  Hence  these  two  witnesses, 
like  the  two  olive  trees,  with  their  two  connecting  branches 
through  which  the  golden  oil  was  poured  into  the  bowl  of 
the  candelabrum,  are  symbolical  representations  of  Faith  and 
Prayer,  of  which  also  they  are  vivid  personifications.  The 
principal  difference  between  the  two  visions  is  that  in  one 
the  life  of  the  church  is  represented  by  two  light-bearers, 
corresponding  to  Faith  and  Prayer,  and,  in  the  other,  by  one, 
corresponding  to  the  Prayer  of  Faith.  This  interpretation 
will  be  made  clearer  and  abundantly  confirmed  in  what 
follows. 

5  And  if  any  one  be  minded  to  hurt  them,  fire  goeth  forth  out  of 
their  mouth  and  devoureth  their  enemies  ;  and  if  any  one  be  minded  to 
hurt  them,  thus  he  must  be  klled. 


THE  LORD'S  WITNESSES    FAITH  AND  PRAYER     219 

Here  there  is  another  explanatory  allusion,  i.  e.  to  the 
prophet  Elijah,  who  by  the  word  of  his  faith  and  prayer 
called  down  fire  from  heaven  which  consumed  the  bands  of 
fifties  that  had  been  sent  against  him  to  put  a  stop  to  his 
prophesying  and  witness-bearing:  the  fire  being  said  to  go 
forth  from  his  mouth  because  it  came  at  his  word  (2  Ki.  i. 
9-12).  This  idea  is  further  illustrated  by  what  was  said  to 
another  prophet:  "  Behold,  I  will  make  my  words  in  thy 
mouth  fire,  and  this  people  wood,  and  it  shall  devour  them  " 
(Jer.  V.  14).  The  repetition  in  the  text  is  for  emphasis,  to 
express  more  forcibly  the  preciousness  of  Faith  and  Prayer 
to  their  Lord. 

6  These  have  power  to  shut  heaven,  that  it  rain  not  in  the  days  of 
their  prophecy ;  and  they  have  powder  over  the  waters  to  turn  them 
into  blood,  and  to  smite  the  earth  with  every  plague  as  often  as  they 
will. 

Here  are  two  other  explanatory  or  interpreting  allusions. 
The  first  is  to  the  faith  and  prayer  of  Elijah,  by  the  power  of 
which  he  shut  up  the  heavens,  so  that  no  rain  fell  upon  the 
land  of  Israel,  in  fulfilment  of  his  word  to  king  Ahab:  "As 
the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  liveth,  before  whom  I  stand, 
there  shall  not  be  dew  nor  rain  but  according  to  my  word  " 
(i  Ki.  xvii.  i)  ;  and  here  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  this  is  the 
most  distinguished  example  of  the  prayer  of  faith  that  is 
given  us  in  the  New  Testament,  as  where  it  is  said:  "The 
prayer  of  a  righteous  man  is  mighty  in  its  working:  Elijah 
was  a  man  subject  to  like  passions  as  we  are;  and  he  prayed 
fervently  that  it  might  not  rain,  and  it  rained  not  upon  the 
earth  for  three  years  and  six  months;  and  he  prayed  again, 
and  the  heaven  gave  rain,  and  the  earth  brought  forth  her 
fruit  "  (James  v.  17-18).  The  second  allusion  is  to  Moses,  ty 
whose  faith  and  prayer  the  plagues  were  brought  upon 
Egypt,  among  which  that  of  turning  the  water  into  blood 
was  one  of  the  most  signal.  Hence  he  is  celebrated,  along 
with  Enoch,  Noah,  and  Abraham,  as  one  of  the  great  heroes 
of  faith  (Heb.  xi.  23-29);  and  in  these  visions  we  have 
seen  that   the    sea  is  turned  into  blood    in    answer  to  the 


220  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

prayers  of  the  saints  (173).  But  why  is  it  that  plagues, 
r  ther  than  ble:sings,  are  here  represented  as  coming  upon 
the  earth  through  faith  and  prayer  ?  The  reason  has  been 
given  before  (169),  namely,  because  the  burden  of  the  prayers 
of  the  Lord's  people  is,  that  His  kingdom  may  come,  and 
these  judgments  are  necessary  to  establish  it.  Yet  why  does 
He  not  rather  subdue  the  world  unto  Himself  by  the  power  of 
His  grace  and  lov^e  ?  But  we  might  as  well  ask,  why  He  did 
not  deliver  the  earth  from  the  wickedness  of  the  old  world 
without  a  flood;  and  Israel  from  the  bondage  in  Egypt  with- 
out the  plagues;  and  America  from  the  curse  of  slavery  with- 
out the  sacrifice  of  a  million  of  lives?  (170).  The  answer  to 
all  such  questions  is,  that  men  will  not  have  it  so:  ''  How 
often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together  as  a  hen 
doth  gather  her  chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would 
not ! "  (Mat.  xxiii.  37).  It  is  only  in  this  way,  in  the  employ- 
ment of  means  indispensable  to  the  establishment  of  the 
Lord's  blessed  kingdom,  that  Faith  and  Prayer  '  have  power 
to  smite  the  earth  with  eve 'y  curse  as  often  as  they  will.' 

7  And  when  they  shall  have  finished  their  testimony,  the  beast  that 
Cometh  up  out  of  the  abyss  will  make  war  upon  them,  and  overcome 
them,  and  kill  them. 

In  these  words  it  is  predicted  that  a  time  will  come  when 
Faith  and  Prayer  will  cease  to  bear  their  testimony,  when 
they  will  hardly  be  found  in  the  v/orld;  and  probably  there 
is  an  allusion  here  to  that  terrible  prophecy  by  the  Lord 
Himself:  "When  the  Son  of  Man  cometh,  shall  He  find 
faith  on  the  earth?"  (Luke  xviii.  8).  He  does  not  say  there 
will  be  none,  but  the  question  certainly  implies  that  it  will 
be  extremely  rare:  and  in  this  vision  we  have  a  large  de- 
velopment of  that  idea.  But  who  or  what  is  this  beast  that 
comes  up  out  of  the  abyss,  makes  war  upon  Faith  and  Prayer, 
overcomes,  and  slays  them  ?  Here,  then,  1  t  it  be  observed, 
that  all  the  bestial  forms  which  fill  so  large  a  place  in  these 
visions  represent  one  fundamenta'  idea,  that  of  opposition 
to  the  Lord  and  His  kingdom,  antichristianitv,  antichrist. 
They  are  beasts,  literally  wild  beasts,  bee  sts  of  prey,  to  de- 


THE  LORD'S  WITNESSES    FAITH  AND  PRAYER     221 

note  that  this  opposition  is  '  of  the  earth  earthy,'  essentially- 
brutal,  both  in  its  utter  incapacity  of  the  knowledge  of  God 
and  divine  things,  and  in  its  remorseless  cruelty  and  destruc- 
tiveness;  and  this  symbolism  accords  with  the  fact,  that 
one  of  the  four  sore  judgments  of  God  is  that  of  wild  beasts 
(184).  This  one  ascends  out  of  the  abyss,  the  realm  of  Satan, 
to  signify  that  it  has  a  specially  malignant  and  diabolical 
character,  as  his  agent,  which  is  signally  manifested  also  by 
its  warfare  upon  the  Lord's  two  witnesses.  Faith  and  Prayer, 
These  particular  objects  of  its  enmity,  moreover,  interpret 
its  special  significance,  evincing  that  it  is  intended  to  sym- 
bolize scepticism,  which  denies  the  reality  of  the  spiritual 
world,  the  object  of  faith,  and  scoffs  at  the  efficacy  of  prayer. 
For  the  power  here  ascribed  to  these  witnesses  to  the  reality 
of  the  unseen  world,  the  power  to  open  and  shut  heaven,  so 
that  it  shall  rain,  or  not  rain,  is  just  that  which  modern 
scepticism  most  strenuously  denies  and  ridicules.  And  its 
beastly  nature  is  abundantly  manifest  in  its  gross  material- 
ism; in  its  teaching  that  men  have  no  souls,  or  spiritual  na- 
ture; that  they  are  descended  from  ape-like  animals,  and  are 
altogether  as  the  brutes  that  perish.  Hence  what  is  here 
prophesied  is,  that  the  time  will  come  when  Faith  and  Prayer 
will  no  longer  possess  the  powers  with  which  they  were 
originally  endowed  and  undeniably  exercised  ;  when  they 
will  be  so  enfeebled  by  this  materialistic  scepticism  as  to  be 
little  more  than  empty  forms,  or  'corpses':  all  which  will 
more  fully  appear  in  what  follows. 

8  And  their  dead  bodies  [lie]  in  the  street  of  the  great  city,  which 
spiritually  is  called  Sodom  and  Egypt,  where  also  their  Lord  was  cru- 
cified :  9  and  they  of  the  peoples  and  tribes  and  tongues  and  nations 
look  upon  their  dead  bodies  three  days  and  a  half,  and  suffer  not  their 
dead  bodies  to  be  laid  in  a  sepulchre. 

This  city  which  '  spiritually,'  i.  e.  with  symbolical  signifi- 
cance, is  so  variously  named,  with  reference  to  its  different 
forms  of  moral  corruption,  to  its  persecutions  of  the  Lord 
and  His  people,  and  to  the  judgments  inflicted  upon  it,  is 
certainly  '  the  great  city '  of  this  world,  the  same  which  in 


222  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

subsequent  visions  is  called  Babylon.  It  represents  the 
world  in  its  enmity  against  the  Lord  and  His  kingdom,  in 
the  sense  of  the  following,  and,  indeed,  of  all  the  Scriptures: 
*'  Marvel  not,  my  brethren,  if  the  world  hate  you  (i  John  iii. 
13),  If  the  world  hate  you,  ye  know  that  it  hated  me  be- 
fore it  hated  you  (John  'xv.  18).  Love  not  the  world, 
neither  the  things  that  are  in  the  world  :  if  any  man  love  the 
world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him;  for  all  that  is  in 
the  world,  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  and  the  lust  of  the  eyes,  and 
the  pride  of  life,  is  not  of  the  Father,  but  is  of  the  world  (i 
John  ii.  15-16).  The  friendship  of  the  world  is  enmity  with 
God:  whosoever,  therefore,  would  be  a  friend  of  the  world 
maketh  himself  an  enemy  of  God  "  (James  iv.  4).  Con- 
sequently, in  the  words,  'where  also  their  Lord  was  crucified,' 
the  reference  is  not  to  Jerusalem,  which  is  ever  '  the  holy  city ' 
(212)  and  the  symbol  of  the  church,  but  to  the  great  city  of 
this  world,  whose  enmity  crucified  Him.  What  determines 
the  meaning  of  the  symbol  is,  that  the  citizens  of  this  city 
are  'peoples  and  tribes  and  tongues  and  nations'  (114),  i.  e, 
the  inhabitants  of  the  whole  earth.  We  shall  have  a  large  de- 
velopment of  this  idea  hereafter  in  the  symbol  of  great  Bab- 
ylon. In  the  street,  or  streets,  or,  as  some  render  it,  '  in  the 
broad  street,'  of  this  symbolical  city  'the  corpse,'  or  corpses, 
of  the  Lord's  two  witnesses  lie  unburied,  are  not  allowed  to 
be  laid  away  in  a  tomb,  to  signify  that  the  lifeless  forms  of 
Faith  and  Prayer  continue  to  be  observed  after  their  power 
to  work  the  wonders  here  ascribed  to  them  has  departed; 
and  this  continues  for  'three  days  and  a  half,'  in  which  prob- 
ably there  is  an  allusion  to  the  time  of  our  Lord's  remaining 
under  the  power  of  death.  Taken  in  comparison  with  1260 
days,  covering  the  whole  or  a  great  part  of  this  dispensation, 
this  symbolical  expression  must  designate  a  brief  period; 
and,  indeed,  if  this  fearful  eclipse  of  faith,  and  this  loss  of  the 
power  of  prayer,  should  be  of  long  continuance,  it  would  be 
as  if  the  Lord  had  never  risen  from  the  dead. 

10  And  they  that  dwell  upon  the  earth  rejoice  over  them,  and  make 
merry;  and  they  will  send  gifts  one  to  another;  because  these  two 
prophets  tormented  them  that  dwell  upon  the  earth. 


THE  LORD'S  WITNESSES    FAITH  AND  PRA  YER 


223 


Faith  and  Prayer  are  called  'witnesses'  and  'prophets,' 
and  are  represented  as  'prophesying,'  in  allusion  to  the  ful- 
ness with  which  their  power  was  exercised  by  the  prophets, 
and  because  they  testify  to  the  reality  of  the  spiritual  world, 
the  hidden  things  of  which  are  disclosed  unto  them.  These 
earth-dwellers  are  still  the  inhabitants  of  '  the  great  city 
which  spiritually  is  called  Sodom  and  Egypt,'  i.  e.  the  anti- 
christian  world:  and  they  rejoice  and  make  merry  and  send 
gifts  one  to  another  over  the  death  of  the  witnesses,  because, 
while  Faith  and  Prayer  were  living  powers,  they  tormented 
them  by  the  evidence  they  gave  of  the  reality  of  the  unseen 
world,  by  awakening  their  convictions  of  sin  and  fears  of 
punishment,  and  by  calling  down  upon  them  the  judgments 
of  God,  as  indispensable  to  the  establishment  of  His  king- 
dom upon  earth.  But,  now,  whilst  they  look  upon  the  corpses 
of  His  witnesses,  seeing  that  there  are  no  such  living  powers 
as  Faith  and  Prayer,  they  are  no  longer  troubled  with  con- 
victions or  fears,  and  they  give  themselves  up  to  mutual  con- 
gratulations, feasting,  and  merry-making,  to  all  lyxurious 
and  sensual  delights,  to  'the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  and  the  lusts 
of  the  eye,  and  the  pride  of  life,'  as  having  no  faith  in  the 
spiritual  world,  nor  in  a  judgment  to  come,  as  having  fallen 
wholly  under  the  power  of  the  beast  out  of  the  abyss,  mate- 
rial scepticism.  For  they  who  lose  faith  soon  come  to  live  as 
saying,  '  Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die  '  (i  Cor. 
XV.  22).  Seeing  that  their  time  is  short,  they  will  make  the 
most  of  it. 

II  And  after  three  days  and  a  half,  the  Spirit  of  life  from  God  en- 
tered into  them,  and  they  stood  upon  their  feet ;  and  great  fear  fell 
upon  them  that  beheld  them.  12  And  I  heard  a  great  voice  from 
heaven  saying  unto  them,  Come  up  hither ;  and  they  went  up  in  a 
cloud  into  heaven,  and  their  enemies  beheld  them. 

The  best  manuscripts  a:-e  about  evenly  divided  between  '  I 
heard  '  and  'they  heard,'  but  the  difference  is  of  no  signifi- 
cance. According  to  the  interpretation  given,  this  resur- 
rection of  the  witnesses  must  represent  a  great  revival  of  the 
power  of  Faith  and  Prayer:  and  their  ascension  to  heaven  in 


224 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


a  cloud,  probably  a  luminous  one,  signifies  that  Faith  and 
Prayer,  or  the  Prayer  of  Faith  now  goes  up  again  before 
God,  as  we  have  seen  (165)  the  prayers  of  the  saints  going 
up  before  Him  in  the  incense-cloud  of  the  Lord's  merit  and 
righteousness  (170).  'The  Spirit  of  life'  that  enters  into 
them  is  the  Holy  Spirit  who  is  ever  the  life  of  Faith  and 
Prayer;  and  the  great  voice  from  heaven  commanding  them 
to  ascend  into  heaven  is  that  of  God  enabling  His  people, 
after  the  brief  reign  of  scepticism,  again  to  offer  up  the 
prayer,  and  to  exercise  all  the  powers,  of  faith.  Now,  there- 
fore, the  unbelieving  world,  when  they  see  the  witnesses 
restored  to  life,  and  going  up  to  heaven,  i.  e.  when  they  see 
that  faith  and  prayer  have  power  with  God,  are  smitten  with 
spiritual  awe  and  fear,  as  is  always  the  case  when  the  prayer 
of  faith  goes  up  before  God  from  the  hearts  of  His  people. 
For  such  prayers  are  answered  in  judgments  upon  the 
world,  as  the  Lord's  resurrection  and  the  prayers  of  His  dis- 
ciples, when  the  Spirit  was  poured  out  upon  them  in  Pente- 
jR  costal  affusion,  were  followed  by  the  overthrow  and  destruc- 
tion of  the  people  and  nation  who  had  rejected  and  crucified 
Him.  Hence  a  representation  of  these  judgments  closes  the 
vision. 

13  And  in  that  hour  there  was  a  great  earthquake,  and  a  tenth 
part  of  the  city  fell ;  and  there  were  killed  in  the  earthquake  seven 
thousand  persons  ;  and  the  remnant  w^ere  affrighted,  and  gave  glory 
to  the  God  of  heaven. 

As  soon  as  the  power  of  Faith  and  Prayer  is  restored,  as 
soon  as  the  petition,  *  Thy  kingdom  come,'  goes  up  again 
from  believing  souls,  the  judgments  come.  There  is  no 
delay,  for  God  will  '  speedily  '  avenge  His  own  elect  who  cry 
day  and  night  unto  Him  (Luke  xviii.  8).  This  earthquake, 
or  shaking  of  heaven  and  earth,  is  doubtless  the  same  with 
that  of  the  sixth  seal  (146),  and  is  to  be  taken  here  with  all 
the  other  phenomena  there  described.  The  words,  'a  tenth 
part  of  the  city  fell,'  are  to  be  understood  in  the  sense,  that 
a  definitely  limited  number  (59)  of  the  ungodly  world 
are  eut  off  in   their  sins,  '  the  remnant '  being  subdued  to 


THE  LORD'S  WITNESSES    FAITH  AND  PRA  YER     225 

faith.  The  statement,  that  '  seven  thousand  persons  [lit- 
erally, names]  were  killed,'  symbolizes  the  fulness  or  ef- 
fectualness  of  the  judgment  (14).  Hence  it  is  added,  that 
*  the  remnant  were  affrighted,  and  gave  glory  to  the  God  of 
heaven,'  i.  e.  they  submitted  themselves  in  faith  to  His  all- 
conquering  power.  For  this  is  the  last  in  that  great  series  of 
judgments  which  the  Lord  finds  necessary  to  inflict  upon  the 
world  in  subduing  it  unto  Himself,  and  all  those  that  fol- 
low are  only  the  particulars  of  what  is  here  summarily  repre- 
sented. Hence  in  the  next  vision  we  shall  have  a  jubilate  in 
heaven  over  the  final  establishment  of  His  kingdom. 

14  The  second  woe  is  past ;  behold,  the  third  woe  cometh  quickly. 

The  order  of  time  here,  as  before,  is  that  of  the  visions, 
and  not  of  the  historical  events.  For  it  is  thus  that  the 
sixth  trumpet  closes,  leaving  us  in  quickened  expectation  of 
the  seventh  and  last,  which,  in  the  cyclical  structure  of  the 
book,  will  return  upon  the  ground  already  traversed,  in  order 
to  exhibit  in  more  ample  particulars  what  has  been  previous- 
ly indicated. 

Meanwhile  it  is  for  us  to  take  knowledge  of  the  awful 
significance  of  this  prophecy,  that  a  time  will  come  when  a 
brutal  and  diabolical  form  of  scepticism  will  overcome  the 
power  of  Faith  and  Prayer ;  will  deprive  them  of  life  and 
efficacy  to  such  an  extent  that  they  will  be  little  more  than 
empty  forms.  Perhaps  this  time  has  already  commenced; 
for  it  is  plain  enough  to  all  men,  that  these  two  witnesses  for 
God  and  the  spiritual  world  have  already  become  so  weak- 
ened that  they  have  but  little  left  of  the  power  here  ascribed 
to  them,  and  which  undeniably  they  once  possessed.  Cer- 
tainly they  give  but  a  feeble  testimony  compared  with  what 
it  was  when  Abraham  and  Moses  talked  face  to  face  with 
God  ;  when  Enoch  and  Elijah  ascended  to  heaven  ;  when  the 
saints  of  old  'through  faith  subdued  kingdoms,  wrought 
righteousness,  obtained  promises,  stopped  the  mouths  of 
lions,  quenched  the  power  of  fire,  escaped  the  edge  of  the 
sword,  from  weakness  were  made  strong,  waxed  mighty  in 
war,  [and]  turned  to  flight  the  armies  of  the  aliens '  (Heb. 
10* 


226  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

xi.  33-35);  when  the  apostolic  church,  without  missionary 
boards  or  money  contributions,  in  less  than  three  centuries, 
revolutionized  the  world.  What  now  has  become  of  the  faith 
of  miracles  ?  And  who  has  told  us  that  we  have  no  need  of 
them  now,  that  they  ought  to  have  ceased  ?  Have  we  heard 
this  from  the  Lord  in  His  word,  or  from  this  beast  out  of  the 
abyss  ?  Is  there  in  the  whole  word  of  God  an  intimation 
that  they  should  ever  cease,  except  from  the  cause  here  given 
us  in  the  death  of  these  witnesses  ?  On  the  contrary,  every 
part  of  the  Bible  looks  to  their  continuance,  especially  where 
they  form  a  constituent  element  of  the  church's  commis- 
sion to  evangelize  the  world  :  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world, 
and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature.  .  .  .  And  these 
signs  shall  follow  them  that  believe  :  in  my  name  shall  they 
cast  out  devils  ;  they  shall  speak  with  tongues  ;  they  shall 
take  up  serpents,  and  if  they  drink  any  deadly  thing,  it  shall 
in  no  wise  hurt  them  ;  they  shall  lay  hands  on  the  sick,  and 
they  shall  recover"  (Mark  xvi.  15-18).  Here  the  power  of 
miracles  goes  with  the  evangelizing  commission,  and  if  one 
be  limited  to  the  apostolic  age,  so  also  must  the  other.  It 
is  true,  that  modern  criticism  has  thrown  some  doubt  on  the 
genuineness  of  this  passage,  yet,  in  any  case,  it  shows  us 
how  the  Lord's  teaching  on  this  subject  was  understood  by 
the  apostolic  church.  In  fact,  the  notion  that  miracles  ought 
to  have  ceased  is  a  mere  theory,  invented  without  a  particle 
of  Scriptural  warrant  to  explain  and  justify  the  loss  of  that 
faith  by  which  they  were  wrought.  And  there  is  as  much 
need  of  them  now  as  there  ever  was.  For  it  must  be  evi- 
dent to  all  who  can  see  anything  that  they  would  now  have 
as  much  power  to  confute  scepticism,  and  to  convince  men 
of  the  reality  of  the  spiritual  world,  as  they  ever  had.  If 
we  could  heal  the  sick  and  raise  the  dead,  as  the  apostles 
did,  our  preaching  would  shake  the  world  to  its  foundations, 
as  theirs  did.  And  what  has  become  of  that  prayer  of  faith 
which  corresponds  to  the  Lord's  declarations:  "Whatsoever 
ye  shall  ask  in  my  name  that  will  I  do  (John  xv.  13).  If 
ye  shall  ask  anything  of  the  Father  in  my  name,  He  will 
give  it  unto  you  (xvi.  23).     All  things  whatsoever  ye  shall 


THE  LORD'S  WITNESSES    FAITH  AND  PRAYER 


227 


ask  for,  believe  that  ye  have  received  them,  and  ye  shall  have 
them  "  ?  (Mark  xi.  24).  Over  and  over  again  He  repeats  such 
assurances,  as  if  with  great  anxiety  lest  they  should  not 
make  their  due  impression,  and  their  deep  significance 
should  be  lost  in  subsequent  ages,  as,  indeed,  but  little  of 
it  now  seems  to  remain  in  the  church.  How  much  further 
is  all  this  to  go  before  it  can  be  said  that  the  Lord's  two 
witnesses  have  been  overcome  and  slain  by  the  beast  out  of 
the  abyss  ?  Yet,  for  our  unspeakable  consolation,  we  are 
here  assured  that,  after  a  brief  period,  they  shall  be  raised 
from  the  dead:  and  who  of  those  that  'wait  for  the  conso- 
lation of  Israel'  (Luke  ii.  25)  can  doubt  but  that,  before  the 
coming  of  the  kingdom,  Faith  and  Prayer  will  recover  all 
the  powers  that  they  ever  had  ?  The  Lord  hasten  it  in  its 
time  ! 


XXVI 

THE   SEVENTH   TRUMPET      JUBILATE  IN   HEAVEN   FOR  THE 
COMING   OF   THE   KINGDOM      XI    15-I9 

The  visions  of  the  seventh  and  last  trumpet  include  all 
that  are  to  follow  up  to  the  close  of  the  dispensation  (200), 
as  explained  in  the  following  extract  from  Alford's  Com- 
mentary :  '  The  relation  in  detail  will  follow,  preceding 
which  we  are  permitted  to  hear  these  voices  in  heaven  of 
thanksgiving  for  that  the  hour  of  God's  kingdom  and  ven- 
geance has  now  come.  In  the  following  visions  we  shall  see 
the  nature  and  methods  of  the  Lord's  taking  possession  of 
His  kingdom,  the  rewards  which  He  gives  to  His  servants, 
and  the  destruction  He  inflicts  upon  them  that  destroy  the 
earth.  .  .  .  Notice  (i)  that  the  seventh  seal,  the  seventh 
trumpet,  and  the  seventh  vial  [chalice]  are  differently  ac- 
companied from  any  which  precede  them  in  each  particular 
series:  (2)  at  each  seventh  member  of  its  series,  (a)  we  see 
and  hear  what  takes  place,  not  on  earth,  but  in  heaven  ; 
(b)  we  have  it  solemnly  related  in  the  form  of  a  conclusion 
(161) ;  (c)  we  have  plain  indication  in  the  imagery,  or  by 
direct  expression,  that  the  end  has  come,  or  is  close  at  hand. 
.  .  .  All  this  makes  it  plain  that  the  three  series  of  visions 
are  not  continuous,  but  resumptive  ,  .  but  each  evolving 
something  which  was  not  in  the  former,  and  putting  the 
course  of  God's  providence  in  a  different  light.  It  is  true, 
tliat  the  seals  involve  the  trumpets,  and  the  trumpets  the 
vials,  but  it  is  not  a  mere  temporal  succession  ;  the  involu- 
tion and  inclusion  are  far  deeper.' 

15  And  the  seventh  angel  sounded  his  trumpet :  and  there  followed 
great  voices  in  heaven,  saying,  The  kingdom  of  the  world  is  become 
[the  kingdom]  of  our  Lord  and  His  Christ,  and  He  shall  reign  forever 
and  ever. 

(228) 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  KINGDOM  229 

This  seventh  and  last  trumpet  is,  as  we  have  seen,  that  of 
which  St.  Paul  speaks  as  announcing  the  resurrection  (200); 
and  since  all  these  trumpets  of  the  Apocalypse  are  unques- 
tionably symbolical,  that  of  St.  Paul  also  must  be  so  under- 
stood. Here,  then,  we  have  a  vision  of  the  grand  result  of 
the  whole  scheme  of  divine  providence,  as  already  accom- 
plished, celebrated  by  a  grand  jubilate  in  heaven  :  for  these 
great  voices  are  doubtless  those  of  the  whole  heavenly  host, 
including  the  unfallen  angels,  God  being  their  Lord  no  less 
than  ours,  and  they  partaking  of  the  thanksgiving  and  joy 
for  that  Christ  now  receives  His  covenanted  reward. 

16  And  the  four  and  twenty  elders,  who  sit  on  their  thrones  before 
God,  fell  upon  their  faces,  and  worshipped  God,  17  saying,  We  give 
thee  thanks,  O  Lord  God  Almighty,  who  art,  and  who  w^ast,  for  that 
thou  hast  taken  thy  great  power  and  dost  reign. 

As  when  the  Lamb  took  the  seven-sealed  book  out  of  the 
hand  of  Him  that  sat  upon  the  throne,  and  entered  upon 
His  mediatorial  government  (123),  so  now  again,  when  His 
kingdom  is  established,  these  Thrones  and  Powers  of  the 
angelic  host  (m)  fall  upon  their  faces  and  worship  God  with 
thanksgiving  and  praise  for  that  He  has  at  last  taken  unto 
Himself,  i.  e.  put  forth,  His  almighty  power,  and  subdued  the 
rebellion  that  has  so  long  taxed  all  the  resources  of  His  pa- 
tience, and  that  He  has  consummated  His  reign  of  righteous- 
ness upon  the  earth.  Probably  it  is  in  speaking  these  words, 
as  a  continuation  of  the  preceding,  that  '  the  great  voices  in 
heaven  '  have  been  heard.  They  add  '  Almighty  '  to  *  Lord 
God '  because  it  is  by  His  all-mightiness  that  this  sub- 
jugation is  effected,  and  because  the  word  includes,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  idea  of  All-Ruler  (23).  In  some  Greek  texts, 
as  in  the  English  Bible,  we  have  'who  art,  and  who  wast, 
and  who  art  to  come,'  but  this  last  clause  is  not  in  the 
best  manuscripts,  and  apparently  with  design,  to  signify 
that,  in  this  proleptical  view,  the  Lord  is  regarded  as  having 
already  come  and  established  His  kingdom  (13).  The 
heavenly  host  are  filled  with  gratitude  and  joy  that  He 
has  at  last  made  an  end  of  the  enormous  evil  which  has  so 


230 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


long  ravaged  the  world  of  mankind  ;  which  must  always 
have  been  to  them,  as  holy  beings,  infinitely  repugnant  and 
hateful,  and,  as  finite  creatures,  no  less  a  mystery  than  it  is 
to  us.  Hence  their  joy  may  be  understood  as  including  that 
of  comprehending  the  divine  purposes  with  respect  to  this 
evil,  and,  especially,  that,  through  all  preceding  ages  since 
it  commenced,  the  eternal  All-Ruler  has  been  working  for 
its  extinction. 

i8  And  the  nations  were  wroth,  and  thy  wrath  is  come,  and  the 
time  for  the  dead  to  be  judged,  and  to  give  the  revvard  unto  thy  ser- 
vants the  prophets,  and  to  the  saints,  and  to  them  that  fear  thy  name., 
'both  small  and  great,  and  to  destroy  them  that  destroy  the  earth. 

This  may  be  a  continuation  of  the  song  of  the  elders  and 
heavenly  host,  or  a  comment  by  the  Apocalyptist  upon  what 
he  has  just  seen  and  heard.  The  wrath  of  the  nations  in 
their  great  rebellion  against  God  and  His  Messiah  King,  is 
first  mentioned  (Ps.  ii.  1-3),  in  order  to  contrast  it  with  the 
■wrath  of  God  by  which  it  has  now  been  subdued  (ii.  4-12). 
The  heavenly  host  rejoice  and  give  thanks  at  this  manifesta- 
tion of  the  divine  wrath,  and  that  the  time  for  the  dead  to  be 
judged  has  come,  because  the  promised  reward  shall  now  be 
given  to  the  prophets  and  saints  and  all  the  servants  of  God, 
both  small  and  great,  i.  e.  the  least  not  being  overlooked, 
and  because  they  who  have  destroyed  the  earth  shall  now 
themselves  be  destroyed.  In  this  last  particular  we  have  a 
full  justification  of  this  rejoicing  at  the  outpouring  of  the 
wrath  of  God,  for  thus  only  can  the  earth  be  delivered  from 
its  destroyers.  In  fact,  all  the  plagues  written  in  this  book 
are  rendered  necessary,  as  we  have  seen,  by  nothing  else  but 
the  obdurate  stubbornness  of  these  earth-destroyers  (220), 
who  cannot  in  any  other  way  be  made  to  cease  from  their 
work  of  destruction. 

19  And  the  temple  of  God  was  opened  in  heaven,  and  the  ark  of 
His  covenant  was  seen  in  His  temple,  and  there  were  lightnings  and 
voices  and  thunders  and  earthquake  and  great  hail. 

These  are  certainly  the  words  of  the  Seer  describing  what 
he  saw  and  heard.     This  opening  of  the  heavenly  temple  and 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  KINGDOM  23 1 

disclosure  of  the  ark  are  deeply  involved  symbols.  For  the 
temple,  as  we  have  seen,  is  the  constant  symbol  of  God's 
peculiar  dwelling  place,  and  hence  of  His  church  (95);  and 
the  ark  of  His  covenant,  whose  covering  was  the  mercy-seat, 
upon  which  rested  the  shekinah  of  His  presence  and  glory, 
is  the  symbol  of  His  mercy  and  covenant  faithfulness;  also, 
of  His  'strength'  or  power  put  forth  in  fulfilling  all  His 
promises  of  reward  unto  His  servants;  and  pre-eminently  of 
those  in  which  He  has  given  unto  His  Son  'the  nations  for 
His  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  His 
possession,'  as  in  the  words  of  the  Psalm: 

Arise,  O  Lord,  into  thy  rest. 

Thou,  and  the  ark  of  thy  strength  (cxxxii.  8). 

Consequently,  this  opening  of  the  temple  and  disclosure  of 
the  ark  are  to  be  understood  as  the  manifestation  of  God's 
immediate  presence,  covenant  faithfulness,  mercy,  and  power 
in  fulfilling  His  promises,  and  of  their  fulfilment  as  now 
rendered  visible  in  this  crowning  result,  in  which  the  Lord 
takes  possession  of  His  inheritance,  and  gives  their  prom- 
ised reward  to  His  servants.  The  meaning  of  the  temple, 
as  representing  the  true  church  (211),  must  not  be  left  out 
of  view,  according  to  which  its  being .  opened  so  as  to 
let  the  ark  be  seen  emphasizes  the  manifested  fulfilment 
of  those  promises  in  the  experience  of  God's  people,  as  now 
made  perfect  in  holiness,  and  enjoying  their  covenanted  re- 
ward. In  these  symbols,  moreover,  there  seems  to  be  an 
allusion  to  the  rending  of  the  veil  of  the  temple  which  took 
place  at  the  crucifixion  of  the  Lord,  whereby  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  behind  it  was  made  visible  to  the  worshippers,  the 
symbolical  meaning  of  which  is  authoritatively  interpreted 
for  us  in  substance,  as  follows:  'This  sacred  veil  represented 
the  flesh  or  humanity  of  the  Lord,  and  its  rending  symbolized 
His  crucifixion,  or  sacrificial  death  (Heb.  ix.  7-8),  whereby 
the  way  into  the  holiest  of  all  (x.  20),  i.  e.  into  the  inmost 
presence  of  God  reconciled,  was  laid  open  to  all  who  should 
come  unto  God  by  Him.'  The  vision,  as  in  other  similar 
cases  (225),  closes  with  a  recurrence  to  the  judgments  in  and 


232 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


through  which  the  crowning  result  is  realized.  For  these 
lightnings  and  voices  and  thunders  go  forth  out  of  the  throne 
of  God,  and  are  the  symbols  of  the  forces  of  nature,  but  here  in 
preternatural  and  destructive  commotion,  as  in  the  sixth 
seal  (146),  implying  all  the  other  phenomena  there  described. 
This  earthquake  also  we  have  had  before,  and  this  great 
hail  (172),  which  will  be  more  particularly  considered  here- 
after. 

The  constant  recurrence  in  these  visions,  and,  indeed, 
throughout  the  whole  Scripture,  of  the  idea,  that  it  is  only 
through  great  judgments  that  the  Lord  will  finally  come  into 
His  kingdom  (169),  is  directly  opposed  to  the  common  belief, 
that  this  glorious  consummation  will  be  brought  about  by 
the  benign  influences  of  grace,  under  which  the  world  will 
be  gradually  converted  and  saved  from  sin  (170).  This  latter 
view  of  the  mystery  of  God  in  dealing  with  the  evil  finds  no 
countenance  in  His  word;  it  is  altogether  unscriptural  and 
pernicious.  For  it  utterly  fails  to  appreciate  the  enormity 
of  sin,  the  obstinacy  of  its  rebellion,  its  power  to  resist  and 
abuse  divine  grace,  and  the  true  nature  of  God's  justice, 
which  requires  that  they  who  persist,  against  all  the  influ- 
ences of  grace,  in  destroying  the  earth  shall  themselves  be 
destroyed;  and  it  blinds  men's  minds  to  the  truth,  which  has 
many  important  applications,  that  '  the  day  of  the  Lord  '  is 
always  *a  day  of  judgment  and  perdition  of  ungodly  men' 
(2  Pet.  iii.  7),  so  that  it  must  needs  bring  with  it  the  destruc- 
tion of  all  who  cannot  be  subdued  to  repentance  and  faith 
by  the  influences  of  grace.  We  ought  never  to  forget  that 
the  Lord  has  to  deal  with  mankind  as  with  a  race  of  obsti- 
nate rebels;  and  that  there  is  but  one  way  to  escape  the  pun- 
ishment we  deserve,  i.  e.  by  the  submission  of  faith  and  trust 
in  Him  as  our  rightful  Lord  and  only  Saviour,  for  this  is 
the  meaning  of  His  word  from  beginning  to  end.  Hence  the 
exhortation  which  is  endlessly  repeated: 

Kiss  the  Son,  lest  He  be  angry,  and  ye  perish  from  the  way, 

For  His  wrath  will  soon  be  kindled. 

Blessed  are  all  they  that  take  refuge  in  Him  (Ps.  ii.  12). 


XXVII 

THE   TRAVAILING  WOMAN   HER  CHILD   AND    THE    DRAGON 
THE   CHURCH  CHRIST  AND   SATAN     XII.    1-1/ 

In  the  preceding  visions  we  have  had  fearful  exhibitions 
of  the  enormity  of  the  evil  that  is  in  the  v/orld,  especially 
through  the  great  judgments  which  are  found  necessary  to 
subdue  it.  In  this  one  we  have  some  account  of  its  origin,  as 
if  in  answer  to  such  questions  as  the  following,  which  are 
not  expressed  for  the  reason,  as  it  would  seem,  that  they 
spontaneously  and  inevitably  occur  to  every  mind:  Whence 
this  enormous  all-pervading  evil  in  God's  world  ?  Is  it 
original  in  human  nature  ?  Or  has  it  come  in  from  some 
foreign  source?  Thus,  as  we  have  just  had  a  proleptical 
view  of  its  final  extinction,  here  we  have  a  retrospective 
glance  at  its  origin,  in  further  illustration  of  its  inveterate 
obstinacy  and  malignity,  and  apparently  to  show  that  it  is 
not  original  in,  and  consequently  is  separable  from,  human 
nature,  but  not  from  that  of  Satan  and  his  angels. 

I  And  a  great  sign  was  seen  in  heaven  :  a  woman  clothed  with  the 
sun,  and  the  moon  under  her  feet,  and  a  crown  of  twelve  stars  upon 
her  head. 

This  sign  appears  in  the  heaven  or  sky  as  being  a  revela- 
tion from  God:  it  is  great  in  a  literal  sense,  as  occupying  a 
great  space,  and  in  a  figurative  sense,  with  reference  to  its 
vast  significance.  For  the  woman  is  the  symbol  of  the 
church,  more  especially  at  the  commencement  of  the  vision, 
of  the  Old  Testament  church.  She  is  a  woman  to  denote 
her  receptivity  of  life  and  fruitfulness  from  God  who  is  her 
husband: 

(233) 


234 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

The  Maker  is  thy  husband, 

The  Lord  of  hosts  is  His  name  (Is.  liv.  5)  : 


also,  to  denote  her  motherhood,  both  of  the  human  nature  of 
Christ,  with  special  reference  to  the  ever-blessed  Virgin 
Mary,  and  of  His  brethren,  all  the  human  children  of  God, 
who  are  called  her  seed.  She  is  clothed  with  the  sun,  as 
being  all-glorious  herself,  and  the  source  of  light,  in  allusion 
to  the  words  of  the  Lord:  "  Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world  " 
(Mat.  V.  14),  and  perhaps  to  the  following: 

Who  is  she  that  looketh  forth  as  the  morning, 

Fair  as  the  moon,  clear  as  the  sun, 

Terrible  as  an  army  with  banners  ?  (Cant.  vi.  10). 

She  has  the  moon  under  her  feet,  to  signify  that,  in  her  spir- 
itual essence,  she  is  above  and  destined  to  survive  all  the 
perturbations  of  time  and  sense,  which  are  symbolized  by 
the  moon's  changing  phases  (214).  And  she  has  a  crown  of 
twelve  stars  upon  her  head  (109),  to  represent  the  complete- 
ness of  the  number  of  her  children,  who  are  also  her  glory, 
and  in  allusion  to  the  promises:  "I  will  multiply  thy  seed  as 
the  stars  of  heaven  (Gen.  xxii.  17). 

They  that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of  the  firmament ; 

And  they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness  as  the  stars  forever  and  ever  "  (Dan.  xii.  3). 

2  And  she,  being  with  child,  crieth  out,  travailing  in  birth  and  in 
anguish  to  be  delivered. 

This  represents  the  sorrowful  travail  of  the  Old  Testament 
church  with  the  mighty  birth  which  she  carried  from  the 
time  its  living  germ  was  deposited  in  her  bosom  in  the 
promise,  'that  the  Seed  of  the  woman  should  crush  the  ser- 
pent's head  '  (Gen.  iii.  15).  It  is  this  serpent-crushing  Seed 
which  she  now  labors  to  bring  forth;  and  hence  the  enmity 
of  the  dragon,  or  serpent,  who  now  seeks  to  devour  Him  as 
soon  as  He  shall  be  born.  The  emphasis  which  is  laid  upon 
her  'anguish  to  be  delivered'  is  to  be  understood  of  the  bur- 
den borne  by  the  Old  Testament  church  in  preparation  for 
the  coming  of  the  Lord,  of  her  intense  desire  for  the  great 
event  while  it  was  so  long  delayed,  and  of  the  fearful  crisis 
which  she  passed  through  at  the  time. 


THE  CHURCH  CHRIST  AND  SA  TAN 


235 


3  And  another  sign  was  seen  in  heaven :  and,  behold,  a  great  red 
dragon,  having  seven  heads  and  ten  horns  and  seven  diadems  upon  his 
heads. 

This  is  the  second  of  the  bestial  forms  in  these  visions 
(221).  As  subsequently  interpreted  by  the  Apocalyptist  him- 
self, it  is  the  symbol  of  *  the  old  serpent  that  is  called  the 
devil  and  Satan.'  He  is  a  serpent  or  dragon,  in  allusion  to 
the  form  in  which  he  tempted  our  first  parents  and  to  de- 
note the  doLible-tongued  subtlety  and  falsehood,  the  grovel- 
ling bestiality,  and  the  quenchless  enmity  to  mankind,  of  his 
fallen  and  ruined  nature,  together  with  his  destiny  to  have 
his  head  crushed  under  the  heel  of  the  Seed  of  the  woman 
(Gen.  iii.  1-15).*  He  is  of  a  blood-red  color,  because  he  is 
the  primary  cause  of  all  the  bloodshed  in  the  world  (130),  as 
in  our  Lord's  words:  *' He  was  a  murderer  from  the  begin- 
ning" (John  viii.  44).  His  seven  heads  are  symbolical  of  the 
fulness  of  his  intellectual  powers  as  subtlety  (14);  'not  that 
wisdom  which  cometh  down  from  above,  but  that  which  is 
earthly,  sensual,  devilish'  (James  iii.  15),  as  where  it  is  said: 
"The  serpent  was  more  subtle  than  any  beast  of  the  field" 
(Gen.  iii.  i).  His  ten  horns  represent  his  power  as  definitely 
limited;  the  horn  being  the  symbol  of  power  (188),  and  the 
number  10  that  of  definite  limitation  (59).  Of  these  symbols, 
however,  i.  e.  seven  heads  and  ten  horns,  we  shall  have  here- 
after a  further  and  more  concrete  development  and  interpre- 
tation (Rev.  xvii.  9-12).  In  fine,  his  seven  diadems  represent 
the  kingdoms,  secular  powers  and  governments,  of  the  world, 
in  allusion  to  the  words  of  the  Lord  where  He  calls  him  '  the 
prince  of  this  world  '  (John  xiv.  30),  and  to  Satan's  offer  to 
bestow  all  these  kingdoms  upon  Him,  saying:  "All  these 
things  will  I  give  thee,  if  thou  wilt  fall  down  and  worship 
me  "  (Mat.  iv.  9).  All  these  symbols  will  frequently  recur  in 
subsequent  visions  where  their  significance  will  become 
more  explicit. 

4  And  his  tail  sweepth  down  a  third  part  of  the  stars  of  heaven, 
and  cast  them  to  the  earth. 


*  For  a  larger  develcpment  of  this  symbol,  see  Wisdom  0/  Holy  Scripture,  vii. 


236  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

The  sublimity  of  this  imagery  is  very  striking,  in  that  the 
dragon,  with  the  vast  sweep  of  his  tail  casts  down  to  the 
earth  a  third  part  of  the  stars  of  heaven;  and  its  meaning  is 
no  less  sublime,  for  the  stars  here  are  the  symbols  of  the 
angels,  as  in  the  following  passages: 

Where  wast  thou  when  I  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth.  .  .  . 
When  the  morning-  stars  sang-  together, 

And  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy  ?    (Job  xxxviii.  4-7). 
How  art  thou  fallen  from  heaven, 

0  Lucifer,  son  of  the  morning  !  .  . 

For  thou  hast  said  in  thy  heart,  I  will  ascend  into  heaven  ; 

1  will  exalt  my  throne  above  the  stars  of  God  (Is.  xiv.  12-13). 

Hence  the  dragon,  sweeping  with  his  tail  a  third  part  of  the 
stars  to  the  earth,  signifies  that  Satan  drew  a  large  propor- 
tion of  the  angelic  host  after  him  in  his  primal  fall;  which 
also  will  be  more  fully  unfolded  hereafter. 

4  And  the  dragon  stood  before  the  w^oman  that  w^as  about  to  bring 
forth,  that,  when  she  should  bring  forth,  he  might  devour  her  child. 

The  description  of  this  child  given  below  cannot  possibly 
refer  to  any,but  the  Lord  Jesus;  and  these  words  picture  the 
eagerness  of  Satan  to  destroy  Him,  as  the  Seed  of  the 
woman  by  whom  his  head  was  to  be  crushed;  that  eagerness 
which  was  manifested  in  Herod's  attempt  to  cut  Him  off  in 
His  infancy,  in  His  temptation  in  the  wilderness,  and  in  all 
the  enmity  of  the  Jews  which  finally  resulted  in  His  cruci- 
fixion. 

5  And  she  brought  forth  a  man  child,  who  is  to  shepherd  all  the  na- 
tions -with  a  rod  of  iron ;  and  her  child  w^as  caught  a-way  unto  God  and 
to  His  throne. 

The  words  here  rendered  'a  man  child'  are  literally  'a 
male  son,'  His  masculine  sex  being  emphasized  by  this  repe- 
tition perhaps  to  signify  that  He  is  the  source  of  life.  His 
shepherding  the  nations  with  a  rod  of  iron  we  have  had  be- 
fore (78).  The  adversary  does  not  succeed  In  destroying  Him 
by  reason  of  the  limitation  of  his  power  (235);  for  the  child 
is  caught  away  from  him  '  unto  God  and  to  His  throne '; 


THE  CHURCH  CHRIST  AND  SA  TAN  237 

v/hich  refers  to  the  resurrection  and  ascension  of  the  Lord, 
and  to  His  being  made  a  partaker  of  His  Father's  throne 
(104),  in  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy: 

The  Lord  said  unto  my  Lord,  Sit  thou  at  my  right  hand, 
Until  I  make  thine  enemies  thy  footstool  (Ps.  ex.  i). 

6  And  the  woman  fled  into  the  wilderness,  where  she  hath  a  place 
prepared  of  God,  that  there  they  should  nourish  her  a  thousand  two 
hundred  and  sixty  days. 

After  the  ascension  and  glorification  of  her  great  Seed  the 
church  flees  from  the  persecutions  of  her  enemy  '  into  the 
wilderness,'  i.  e.  she  is  driven,  as  by  the  persecutions  of  the 
martyr  age,  into  a  state  of  separation  and  sequestration  from 
the  world,  which  God  has  prepared  for  her,  that  she  may  be 
nourished  in  her  spiritual  life,  and  where  the  machinations 
of  Satan  are  frustrated  by  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  becoming 
the  seed  of  the  church:  in  all  which  there  is  a  plain  allusion 
to  the  typical  flight  of  the  Old  Testament  church  from  her 
Egyptian  persecutors  into  the  wilderness,  where  she  was 
nourished  with  manna  from  heaven,  until  she  came  to  the 
borders  of  the  promised  land.  Hence  the  time,  1260  days, 
of  the  New  Testament  church's  sojourn  in  this  prepared 
place  or  state  of  sequestration  seems  to  be  that  of  her  pil- 
grimage through  the  wilderness  of  this  world  to  the  heavenly 
Canaan.  This  flight  into  the  wilderness  is  anticipated  here, 
and  there  will  be  a  return  to  it  in  the  sequel. 

7  And  there  was  war  in  heaven,  Michael  and  his  angels  warring 
with  the  dragon  ;  and  the  dragon  warred,  and  his  angels,  8  and  pre- 
vailed not,  neither  was  their  place  found  any  more  in  heaven  ;  9  and  the 
great  dragon  was  cast  down,  the  old  serpent  that  is  called  the  devil 
and  Satan,  who  deceiveth  the  whole  world  ;  he  was  cast  down  unto 
the  earth,  and  his  angels  were  cast  down  with  him. 

The  retrospective  view  which  has  been  taken  in  this  vision 
now  extends  further  into  the  past,  as  if  in  answer  to  the 
questions:  Who,  and  from  whence  is  this  great  red  dragon, 
this  great  power  of  evil,  that  seeks  to  destroy  the  Lord  Him- 
self ?     How  came  there  to  be  any  such  power  in  a  universe 


238  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

created  by  God  ?  Here,  then,  we  are  informed,  that  it  orig- 
inated on  the  heights  of  the  spiritual  world,  among  the 
angels  themselves;  that,  at  some  time  in  the  depths  of  past 
ages,  there  was  a  great  rebellion  and  war  in  heaven;  where- 
in Satan,  who  seems  to  have  been  one  of  the  most  exalted  of 
*  the  sons  of  God,'  and  who  probably  was  known  among  them 
by  the  name  of  Lucifer,  or  Day  Star,  headed  the  rebels; 
whilst  one  who  bore  the  name  of  Michael  was  the  leader  of 
those  who  remained  loyal,  and  'kept  their  first  estate '  (Jude 
6).  But  who  is  this  Michael  ?  He  is  called  '  the  archangel ' 
(Jude  9),  '  the  great  prince  who  standeth  for  the  children  of 
thy  people,'  'one  of  the  first  of  the  princes  ';  and  he  is  spoken 
of  by  '  one  like  the  appearance  of  a  man'  (Dan.  xii.  i;  x.  13) 
as  follows:  "  Now  will  I  return  to  fight  with  the  prince  of 
Persia;  and  when  I  go  forth,  lo,  the  prince  of  Grecia  will 
come  .  .  .  and  there  is  none  that  strengtheneth  himself  with 
me  against  these,  but  Michael  your  prince"  (Dan.  x.  20-21): 
of  all  which  we  understand  as  yet  but  very  little.  The  name, 
however,  signifies  one  like  unto  God.  Of  course,  the  issue 
of  this  rebellion  in  heaven  could  not  be  doubtful.  Satan  and 
his  angels  were  defeated  and  cast  down  to  the  earth;  we 
have  seen  him  before  as  '  a  star  that  had  fallen  from  heaven ' 
(179);  in  consequence  of  which  he  set  himself  to  'deceive  the 
whole  world  ';  and  his  first  exploit  in  this  line  seems  to  have 
been  in  the  temptation  and  fall  of  man.  Such  is  the  answer 
here  given  to  the  questions  implied;  thus  far  the  word  of 
God  in  explanation  of  the  origin  of  evil;  but  neither  here  nor 
elsewhere  have  we  any  attempt  to  explain  philosophically 
how  it  could  thus  have  arisen;  and  this,  doubtless,  because 
to  the  finite  mind  it  is  and  must  ever  remain  an  incompre- 
hensible mystery. 

10  And  I  heard  a  great  voice  in  heaven  saying,  Then  was  the  sal- 
vation and  the  power  and  the  kingdom  of  our  God,  and  the  authority 
of  His  Christ,  for  the  accuser  of  our  brethren,  who  accuseth  them  day 
and  night  before  God,  w^as  cast  down. 

This  great  voice  is  that  of  the  heavenly  host  rejoicing  that 
Satan  has  been  cast  out  of  heaven.     The  translation  com- 


THE  CHURCH  CHRIST  AND  SATAN  239 

monly  given  is, '  Now  is  come  the  salvation,'  and  'the  accuser 
is  cast  down';  but  without  any  satisfactory  reason  for 
rendering  these  two  verbs  in  the  present,  when  they  are  both 
undeniably  in  a  past  tense.  Scholars  have  been  'driven' 
(Dean  Alford's  word  /Vz  loco)  to  take  this  unwarrantable 
liberty  by  the  word  apri,  which  commonly  means  *  now,' 
and  with  which  the  song  begins;  but  it  is  often  used  with 
reference  both  to  past  and  to  future  events  ;  and,  in  the 
former  case,  it  may  properly  be  rendered  '  then,'  as  the  past 
tense  of  these  two  verbs  absolutely  requires  that  it  should  be 
here.  For  this  song  is  a  jubilation  over  the  casting  down  of 
Satan  out  of  heaven,  whereby  heaven  itself  has  been  saved 
from  wreck  and  ruin,  and  God's  power  and  reign  and  the 
authority  of  His  eternal  Son  have  been  established  against 
this  great  rebellion  in  the  spiritual  world.  It  is  to  be  ob- 
served also  that  the  holy  angels,  from  whom  this  voice  pro- 
ceeds, speak  of  Satan  as  '  the  accuser,'  not  of  themselves,  but 
'of  their  brethren,'  i.  e.  of  the  saints  on  earth,  because  'the 
whole  family  in  heaven  and  earth'  (Eph.  iii.  15)  is  one 
brotherhood,  having  one  Father,  God:  and  this  word  'ac- 
cuser '  has  reference  to  his  name,  the  devil,  i.  e.  slanderer, 
in  which  character  he  brings  such  slanderous  accusations 
against  them  (Job  i.  8-1 1),  as  those  which  he  urged  against 
the  patriarch  (ii.  4-5).  But  from  the  emphasis  here  laid 
upon  it,  in  that  'he  accuses  them  day  and  night  before  God,' 
it  probably  involves  a  mystery  which  we  very  imperfectly 
understand. 

II  And  they  overcame  him  because  of  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and 
because  of  the  word  of  their  testimony,  and  they  loved  not  their  lives 
even  unto  death. 

Here  the  song  passes,  by  a  somewhat  abrupt  transition, 
from  the  victory  over  Satan  in  heaven  to  that  of  the  saints 
upon  earth.  For  the  antecedent  of  '  they  '  is  the  '  brethren  ' 
of  the  angels  ;  and  the  failure  of  the  great  adversary  in 
his  primal  rebellion  is  taken  as  typical  and  prophetic  of 
that  which  he  suffers  from  the  faith  and  patience  of  the 
saints;  who  overcome  him  by  reason   of  the  blood   of  the 


240  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

Lamb  shed  for  them,  and  by  the  power  of  their  testimony, 
which  they  joyfully  seal  with  their  blood. 

12  Therefore  rejoice,  O  heavens,  and  ye  that  dwell  therein :  [but] 
woe  to  the  earth  and  to  the  sea,  because  the  devil  is  gone  down  unto 
you  having  great  wrath,  knowing  that  he  hath  little  time. 

Whilst  the  casting  down  of  Satan  is  thus  a  matter  of 
rejoicing  to  them  that  dwell  [literally,  tabernacle]  in  heaven 
it  is  a  great  *  woe  to  the  earth,'  i.  e.  to  the  natural  life  of 
man  (172),  and  'to  the  sea,'  his  political  organizations  (174); 
for  in  consequence  of  this  fall  he  goes  down  among  them 
in  great  wrath,  knowing  that  he  has  but  a  short  time  to 
make  the  most  of  it. 

13  And  when  the  dragon  saw  that  he  was  cast  down  unto  the  earth, 
he  persecuted  the  woman  that  brought  forth  the  man  child :  14  and 
there  were  given  unto  the  woman  the  two  wings  of  the  great  eagle, 
that  she  should  fly  into  the  wilderness  unto  her  place,  vsrhere  she  is 
nourished  for  a  time  and  times  and  a  half  time  from  the  face  of  the 
serpent. 

The  vision,  having  taken  up  the  prophetic  significance  of 
its  retrospect,  returns  now  to  the  woman,  in  order  more  fully 
to  unfold  what  has  been  too  briefly  touched  upon  before. 
The  rage  of  the  dragon  against  her  is  referred  to  two  causes: 
(i)  to  the  indignity  that  has  been  put  upon  him  in  his  being 
cast  down  to  the  earth;  (2)  to  her  having  brought  forth  the 
man  child,  the  Seed  that  is  to  crush  his  head  (236).  But 
again  his  designs  are  frustrated  because  of  the  limitation  of 
his  power.  For  there  are  given  unto  her  *  the  two  wings  of 
the  great  eagle  that  she  should  fly  into  the  wilderness,'  in 
evident  allusion  to  the  typical  flight  of  Israel  into  the  wilder- 
ness from  their  Egyptian  persecutions  (237),  and  particularly 
to  the  words  in  which  they  were  reminded  of  God's  provi- 
dence and  tender  care  for  them  in  their  flight:  "Ye  have 
seen  what  I  did  unto  the  Egyptians,  and  how  I  bear  you  on 
eagle's  wings,  and  brought  you  unto  myself  (Ex.  xix.  4). 

As  an  eagle  that  stirreth  up  her  nest, 

That  fluttereth  over  her  young, 

He  spread  abroad  His  wings,  He  took  them, 

He  bore  them  on  His  pinions  "  (Deut.  xxxii.  ii). 


THE  CHURCH  CHRIST  AND  SA  TAN  24I 

Hence  it  seems  altogether  probable  that  '  the  great  eagle ' 
became  a  proverbial  expression  the  meaning  of  which,  as  a 
symbol  of  God's  providential  care  for  His  people  under  per- 
secution, was  commonly  understood.  Thus  He  is  here  repre- 
sented as  bearing  His  New  Testament  church  into  the  wilder- 
ness of  sequestration  from  the  world,  where  only  she  can  be 
safe  from  the  persecutions  of  the  enemy,  and  be  adequately 
nourished  with  bread  from  heaven.  The  'time,  times,  and  a 
half  time,'  during  which  she  is  to  remain  thus  secluded,  and 
'  her  life  hidden  with  God  '  (Col.  iii.  3),  are  identical  with  the 
1260  days,  and  with  the  42  months  (237),  during  which  the 
court  of  the  temple  is  given  up  to  the  gentiles,  and  they 
tread  the  holy  city  (214). 

15  And  the  serpent  cast  out  of  his  mouth  water  as  a  flood  after  the 
woman,  that  he  might  cause  her  to  be  swept  away  by  the  flood :  16 
and  the  earth  helped  the  woman  ;  and  the  earth  opened  her  mouth,  and 
swallowed  up  the  flood  which  the  dragon  cast  out  of  his  mouth. 

Even  in  this  wilderness  of  sequestration  and  consecration 
the  church  is  followed  by  the  enmity  of  her  great  adversary; 
for  this  flood  which  he  casts  out  of  his  mouth  after  her  sym- 
bolizes his  persecutions,  and  particularly  those  of  the  martyr 
age.  What  is  signified  by  the  earth  helping  the  woman  is  to 
be  understood  from  the  fact,  that  the  first  nominally  Chris- 
tian emperor  caused  persecution  to  cease  for  a  time  (59). 
For  his  government,  though  nominally  Christian,  seems  to 
be  regarded  here  as  belonging  essentially  to  the  natural  life 
of  man,  of  which  the  earth  is  the  constant  symbol  (172):  and 
political  life,  which  is  a  special  form  of  that  which  is  natural, 
though  elsewhere  represented  by  the  sea,  seems  here  to  be 
included  in  the  symbol  of  the  earth  taken  as  composed  of 
sea  and  land. 

17  And  the  dragon  was  wroth  concerning  the  w^oman,  and  w^ent 
away  to  make  war  with  the  remnant  of  her  seed,  who  keep  the  com- 
mandments of  God  and  hold  the  testimony  of  Jesus. 

The  divine  protection  thus  vouchsafed  to  the  church  has 
no  other  effect  upon  her  adversary  than  to  excite  his  rage 
against    'the   remnant   of   her   seed,'   i.  e.  those  who   have 
II 


242  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

escaped  martyrdom.  Against  these,  because  they  keep  the 
commandments  of  God,  and  hold  fast  their  testimony  or 
confession  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  he  continues  to  wage  unceasing 
warfare,  as  in  his  persecutions  and  temptations  in  all  subse- 
quent ages. 

This  vision  contains  several  points  of  vital  interest,  especi- 
ally the  following: 

1.  There  is  a  great  personal  adversary  of  God  and  man; 
this  idea,  however,  stands  out  on  every  page  of  the  book. 
But  here  we  see  that  he  was  once  an  exalted  angel,  who  fell 
into  rebellion,  was  cast  out  of  heaven,  and  ever  since  has 
made  it  his  supreme  object  to  frustrate  the  benevolent  pur- 
poses of  God,  and  to  destroy  mankind.  This  great  truth  we 
know  only  from  revelation,  but  it  runs  through  the  whole 
Scripture,  from  the  temptation  in  Eden  to  the  casting  of  this 
adversary  into  the  lake  of  fire  (Rev.  xx.  lo).  Nor  is  it  any 
more  incredible  that  there  should  be  evil  spirits  than  wicked 
men. 

2.  The  benefits  of  this  revealed  truth  are  very  great;  for 
it  gives  us  the  assurance  that  the  evil  from  which  we  suffer 
is  not  original  in  human  nature,  but  has  come  in  from  a  for- 
eign source,  and  consequently  is  separable  from  us,  so  that 
we  can  be  saved  from  it.  For  probably  the  reason  why 
there  is  no  salvation  for  the  fallen  angels  is,  that  sin  is 
original  with  them,  and  consequently  inseparable  from  their 
nature. 

3.  Belief  in  this  truth  is  one  of  our  greatest  helps  in  resist- 
ing our  temptations.  For  if  we  regard  our  sin  as  original 
with  us,  or  as  the  working  of  an  impersonal  principle  with- 
out us,  we  have  no  strength  to  make  head  against  it.  Self 
cannot  fight  self.  It  takes  two  to  make  a  fight.  But  when 
we  understand  that  our  temptations  originate  from  a  per- 
sonal enemy  without  ourselves,  our  animosity  against  him  is 
excited,  and  we  can  resist  him  till  he  flees  from  us  (James  iv. 
7).  Hence,  when  he  can  persuade  men  that  they  have  no 
such  enemy,  then  he  has  his  will  of  them,  they  betray  them- 
selves into  his  power,  and  he  satisfies  upon  them  his  horrid 
lust  of  torment. 


THE  CHURCH  CHRIST  AND  SA  TAN 


243 


4.  We  see  here  that  the  only  place  or  state  in  which  we 
can  be  safe  from  his  assaults,  and  adequately  nourished  with 
'the  hidden  manna,'  is  the  wilderness  of  sequestration  from 
the  world  and  consecration  to  God  {(>(i).  It  is  here  only  that 
Satan  can  do  us  no  harm. 


XXVIII 

THE   BEAST   OUT   OF   THE   SEA       ANTICHRISTIAN   SECULAR 

POWER     xni  I-IO 

This  is  the  third  of  the  bestial  forms  in  these  visions,  and 
it  stands  in  the  closest  relation  to  the  second  (235),  inasmuch 
as  it  represents  one  of  the  principal  means  or  instrumen- 
talities by  which  the  great  adversary  works  out  his  enmity 
against  the  Lord  and  His  people. 

I  And  I  stood  upon  the  sand  of  the  sea  :  and  I  saw  a  beast  coming 
up  out  of  the  sea,  having  ten  horns  and  seven  heads,  and  upon  his 
horns  ten  diadems,  and  upon  his  heads  names  of  blasphemy.  2  And 
the  beast  that  I  saw  was  like  unto  a  leopard,  and  his  feet  [were]  as  of  a 
bear,  and  his  mouth  as  the  mouth  of  a  lion :  and  the  dragon  gave  him 
his  power  and  his  throne  and  great  authority. 

There  are  variations  in  the  manuscripts  here  which  leave 
it  somewhat  doubtful  whether  it  is  the  Seer  or  the  dragon 
that  stands  upon  the  sea  shore:  I  have  adopted  the  reading 
which  seems  most  probable  to  me,  as  giving  the  point  of 
view  from  which  the  beast  is  seen.  The  sea  is  the  constant 
symbol  of  national  life  in  its  stormy  agitations  and  surging 
violence  (174);  consequently  this  form  of  evil  which  arises 
out  of  it  is  best  understood  as  that  of  antichristian  political 
or  secular  power  (220):  and  this  interpretation  is  abundantly 
confirmed  by  the  significant  allusions  here  to  the  four  beasts 
which  the  prophet  Daniel  saw  rising  out  of  the  sea,  one  of 
which  was  like  a  leopard,  another  like  a  bear,  another  like  a 
lion,  and  the  fourth  *  was  diverse  from  all  the  beasts  that 
were  before  it,  and  it  had  ten  horns'  (Dan.  vii.  2-7).  For 
here  we  have  a  beast  with  ten  horns,  rising  out  of  the  sea, 
like  a  leopard,  with  the  feet  of  a  bear,  and  the  mouth  of  a 
(244) 


ANTICHRISTIAN  SECULAR  PO  WER  245 

lion;  a  combination  of  the  first  three  in  Daniel's  vision,  in 
order  to  constitute  the  fourth,  which  was  '  dreadful  and  ter- 
rible and  strong  exceedingly;  and  he  had  great  iron  teeth; 
he  devoured  and  broke  in  pieces  and  stamped  the  remnant 
with  his  feet '  (Dan.  vii.  7).  And  the  interpretation  of  these 
symbols  which  was  divinely  given  to  the  prophet  was,  that 
they  represented  *  kings,'  i,  e.  political  or  secular  powers;  to 
which  it  was  added:  "The  fourth  beast  shall  be  a  fourth 
kingdom  upon  earth,  which  shall  be  diverse  from  all  the 
kingdoms,  and  shall  devour  the  whole  earth,  and  shall  thresh 
it  down,  and  break  it  in  pieces  "  (Dan.  vii.  17-23).  Hence  we 
need  not  hesitate  to  take  this  beast  which  was  seen  by  St. 
John  as  intended  to  symbolize  antichristian  secular  power- 
in  general,  but  with  special  reference  to  the  persecuting  em- 
pire of  pagan  Rome,  which,  as  all  interpreters  agree,  is^ 
represented  by  the  fourth  beast  in  Daniel's  vision.  All  his 
characteristic  traits  still  further  confirm  this  interpretation. 
For  this  power  is  represented  as  a  beast,  to  signify  that  it  is 
essentially  brutal,  incapable  of  the  knowledge  of  God  and 
divine  things  (220).  The  beast  by  which  it  is  symbolized 
combines  the  qualities  of  the  leopard,  the  bear,  and  the  lion, 
to  denote  its  ferocious  and  destructive  cruelty,  as  exemplified 
in  the  bloody  persecutions  of  the  primitive  Christians,  and 
often  since.  He  has  the  seven  heads  and  ten  horns  of  the 
dragon  with  the  same  significance,  and  to  identify  him  as  a 
form  or  manifestation  of  that  great  power  of  evil  (235);  for 
the  dragon  gives  to  him  his  power  and  his  throne  and  great 
authority:  in  other  words,  Satan  installs  antichristian  secular 
power  as  his  vicegerent,  to  carry  on  his  warfare  against  the 
Lord  and  '  the  remnant  of  the  seed  of  the  woman,  who  keep 
the  commandments  of  God,  and  hold  the  testimony  of  Jesus  ' 
(241).  But  it  should  not  be  overlooked,  that  his  horns  are 
first  mentioned,  and  he  has  his  diadems  upon  them,  and  not 
upon  his  heads,  in  both  which  particulars  he  differs  from  the 
dragon,  to  denote  that  this  form  of  antichristian  power  is 
maintained  and  exercised  not  so  much  by  subtlety  and  craft 
as  by  force  and  violence.  These  horns,  moreover,  as  we  shall 
see  in  a  subsequent  vision  (Rev.  xvii.  12),  are  taken  to  repre- 


246  WISDOM  OF  THE  A  FOCAL  YFSE 

sent. the  inferior  political  powers  which  arose  out  of  the  ruins 
of  the  Roman  empire,  as  in  Daniel's  vision:  "  As  for  the  ten 
horns,  out  of  this  kingdom  shall  ten  kings  arise  "  (Dan.  vii. 
24).  The  significance  of  the  '  names  of  blasphemy  '  upon  the 
heads  of  this  beast  will  appear  in  the  sequel.  All  these  traits 
of  antichristian  secular  power  were  so  amply  and  particu- 
larly exemplified  in  the  government  of  pagan  Rome  that  the 
subject  need  not  be  more  than  alluded  to  here.  But  whether 
this  beast  represents  merely  the  abstract  idea  of  antichristian 
secular  power,  or  a  personal  spiritual  being  distinct  from 
Satan,  one  of  his  angels,  who  acts  as  the  animating  spirit  of 
that  power,  I  shall  not  undertake  to  decide.  Certainly  there 
is  nothing  unscriptural  in  this  latter  supposition,  and  we 
shall  see  hereafter  that  he  is  cast  *  alive '  into  the  lake  of  fire 
and  brimstone  (Rev.  xx.  10), 

3  And  [I  saw]  one  of  his  heads  as  wounded  unto  death,  and  his 
wound  of  death  was  healed. 

Wonderful,  indeed,  is  the  prophecy  contained  in  this  strik- 
ing symbol.  For  certainly  pagan  Rome  was  one  of  the  seven 
heads  of  antichristian  secular  power,  the  other  six  will  be 
named  hereafter.  But  when  Constantine,  the  first  nominally 
Christian  emperor,  was  established  upon  the  throne  at  the 
commencement  of  the  fourth  century,  the  government  ceased 
to  be  antichristian,  persecution  was  intermitted  for  a  time, 
and  Christianity  became,  in  some  sort,  the  religion  of  the 
empire.  It  was  in  this  way  that  its  antichristian  and  per- 
secuting power  received  what  seemed  as  if  it  might  prove 
a  fatal  wound.  But  this  wound  was  effectually  healed  when 
the  political  powers  which  arose  upon  the  dissolution  of  the 
empire  became  the  instruments  of  the  papacy  unto  renewed 
persecutions  ;  when  it  became  the  custom  for  that  perse- 
cuting power  to  'deliver  heretics  over  to  the  secular  arm  '  to 
be  put  to  death,  after  the  example  of  the  Jews  in  causing  the 
Lord  to  be  crucified  by  the  Roman  authorities  :  for  these 
'  heretics,'  so  called,  were  often  the  true  people  of  God.  Its 
healing  appears  also  in  the  persecutions  of  the  Waldenses 
and  Albigenses   and  Huguenots,  especially  in   the  St.   Bar- 


ANTICHRISTIAN  SECULAR  POWER 


247 


tholomew  massacre,  in  those  of  '  bloody  Mary,'  in  the  perse- 
cuting wars  of  Charles  V.  and  Philip  II.,  and  in  a  thousand 
other  instances. 

3  And  the  whole  earth  wondered  after  the  beast :  4  and  they  wor- 
shipped the  dragon  because  he  gave  the  authority  unto  the  beast ;  and 
they  worshipped  the  beast,  saying,  Who  is  like  unto  the  beast  ?  and, 
Who  is  able  to  make  war  w^ith  him  ? 

This  represents  the  universality  of  antichristian  political 
organizations  or  governments,  and  of  the  '  worship,'  or  rev- 
erence and  submission  of  mind,  which  they  have  always  ex- 
acted and  received  from  their  subjects  :  for  claiming  to  be 
absolute,  and  to  hold  their  illegitimate  powers  'by  divine 
right,'  they  subjugate  even  the  minds  of  men  ;  and  thus,  by 
putting  themselves  in  the  place  of  God  as  lords  of  the  human 
conscience,  they  become  the  instruments  of  Satan  and  truly 
Satanic.  Hence  in  worshipping  them,  with  this  submission 
of  mind  men  worship  Satan,  who  gives  them  this  authority  ; 
they  become  devil-worshippers.  The  moral  character  which 
is  here  and  everywhere  in  Scripture  ascribed  to  civil  govern- 
ment is  to  be  carefully  noted.  Here  we  see  that  it  is  not  to  be 
regarded  as  an  abstraction  nor  as  a  compact,  nor  as  a  cor- 
poration without  a  soul,  but  as  a  moral  creature  of  God, 
and  necessarily  Christian  or  antichristian.  In  the  liturgic 
expressions  of  his  worshippers,  *  Who  is  like  unto  the  beast  ? 
and  Who  is  able  to  make  war  with  him  ?'  there  is  a  blasphe- 
mous imitation  of  such  ascriptions  to  God  as  the  following  : 
"To  whom,  then,  will  ye  liken  God  ?  (Is.  xl.  18).  To  whom 
will  ye  liken  me,  and  make  me  equal,  and  compare  me,  that 
we  may  be  alike  ? "  (xlvi.  s).  Hence  the  '  names  of  blas- 
phemy '  upon  the  heads  of  the  beast. 

5  And  there  was  given  unto  him  a  mouth  speaking  great  things  and 
blasphemies :  and  there  was  given  unto  him  authority  to  do  [his 
works]  forty  and  two  months  :  6  and  he  opened  his  mouth  unto  blas- 
phemies against  God,  to  blaspheme  His  name,  and  His  tabernacle, 
them  that  dwell  in  heaven. 

This,  in  connection  with  the  '  names  of  blasphemy,'  is  to 
be  taken  with  special,  though  by  no  means  exclusive  refer- 


248 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


ence  to  the  Roman  emperors  in  their  impious  claims  to  di- 
vine honors,  in  tlieir  rescripts  and  ordinances  that  worship 
should  be  paid  to  them  as  gods,  and  in  persecuting  unto 
death  those  who  denied  their  divinity,  as  we  have  seen  in  the 
martyrdom  of  Polycarp.  For  they  had  their  altars  set  up 
in  every  city,  and  exacted  that  religious  offerings  should 
be  made  unto  themselves,  the  refusal  of  which  became  a 
common  test  of  Christian  profession.  It  was  by  these  sacri- 
legious claims  and  persecuting  laws  that  they  opened  their 
mouths  in  blasphemies  against  God,  to  blaspheme  His  name, 
and  His  tabernacle  ;  i.  e.  heaven,  and  all  holy  beings  dwell- 
ing therein  ;  who,  so  far  from  claiming  these  great  things 
for  themselves,  fall  upon  their  faces,  and  cast  their  crowns 
before  His  throne  (115).  But  the  particular  allusion  to  the 
Roman  emperors  does  by  no  means  exhaust  the  fulness  of 
this  symbol,  for  wherever  political  powers  claim  to  be  abso- 
lute, and  exert  their  authority  to  co.erce  the  faith  or  con- 
sciences of  their  subjects,  they  become  antichristian  ;  they 
put  themselves  in  the  place  of  God,  and  blaspheme  His  name, 
and  all  who  dwell  in  heaven,  who  render  unto  Him  a  free 
and  cordial  service.  Thus,  indeed,  they  become  the  beast, 
to  whom  the  dragon  gives  his  power  and  throne  and  great 
authority,  that  thereby  they  should  cause  men  to  worship 
him  (241).  The  time  during  which  they  are  permitted  to  do 
these  works,  42  months,  we  have  had  before  (237),  and  seen 
that  it  covers  a  great  part  of  the  dispensation  in  which  we 
live. 

7  And  it  was  given  unto  him  to  make  war  with  the  saints  and  to 
overcome  them  :  and  authority  was  given  unto  him  over  every  tribe 
and  people  and  tongue  and  nation  :  8  and  all  that  dwell  upon  the  earth 
will  w^orship  him,  [every  one]  vyhose  name  hath  not  been  w^ritten  in  the 
book  of  life  of  the  Lamb  that  hath  been  slain  in  sacrifice  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world. 

This  world-tyranny  is  allowed  to  persecute  and  overcome 
the  saints  in  the  sense  of  making  them  martyrs.  Its  author- 
ity over  all  the  nations  is  not  from  God  otherwise  than  by 
His  providential  permission,  but  immediately  from   Satan, 


ANTICHRISTIAN  SECULAR  POWER  249 

who  is  here  recognized  as  '  the  prince  of  this  world  '  (John 
xii,  31).  It  has  no  power  to  subdue  or  subjugate  the  minds 
of  the  saints  ;  they  do  not  worship  it,  because  they  are  fol- 
lowers of  the  Lamb  who  has  been  slain  in  sacrifice,  and  their 
names  are  written  in  His  book  of  life  (86);  consequently  they 
count  not  their  mortal  lives  dear  unto  themselves,  in  com- 
parison with  His  honor  and  glory.  There  is  a  difference  of 
opinion  among  the  interpreters,  whether  the  words,  '  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world,'  are  connected  with  'whose 
name  hath  not  been  written  in  the  book  of  life,'  or  with  '  the 
Lamb  that  hath  been  slain';  for  both  these  ideas  are  per- 
fectly Scriptural,  and,  indeed,  both  may  be  intended.  In 
support  of  the  former,  we  have  God's  eternal  purpose  in  the 
election  of  His  people  out  of  the  world,  which  has  been 
amply  recognized  in  these  visions  (T58),  especially  in  the 
measuring  of  the  temple,  and  in  the  sealing  of  the  cxliv 
thousand  ;  for  in  virtue  of  their  election  it  could  be  fitly 
said,  that  their  names  have  been  written  in  the  book  of 
life  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  For  the  latter  con- 
nection, we  may  recall  the  words  :  "  A  Lamb  without  blem- 
ish and  without  spot,  [even]  Christ,  who  verily  was  ordained 
before  the  foundation  of  the  world  (i  Pet.  i.  19-20).  Him, 
being  delivered  by  the  determinate  counsel  and  foreknowl- 
edge of  God,  ye  have  taken,  and  with  wicked  hands  have 
crucified  and  slain"  (Acts  ii.  23):  as,  also,  the  typical  repre- 
sentation of  His  sacrifice  by  the  clothing  of  the  first  human 
sinners  in  the  skins  of  sacrificial  animals,*  and  in  the  sacri- 
fice of  Abel :  in  view  of  all  which  it  could  be  as  fitly  said, 
that  the  Lamb  had  been  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world.  But  though  both  of  these  ideas  may  be  intended,  it 
would  seem  that  the  former  ought  to  have  the  preference, 
because  it  is  clearly  expressed  in  a  subsequent  vision:  "They 
that  dwell  upon  the  earth  will  wonder  [after  the  beast]  whose 
names  have  not  been  written  in  the  book  of  life  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world  "  (Rev.  xvii.  8), 

9  If  any  man  hath  an  ear  let  him  hear. 


*  For  the  evidence  on  this  point  see  Wisdom  of  Holy  Scripture^  xi. 
H* 


250 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


A  declaration  of  the  importance  to  all  men  alike  of  what 
is  disclosed  in  this  vision  (49). 

10  If  any  man  is  for  captivity,  into  captivity  he  goeth  :  if  any 
man  is  for  the  sword,  with  the  sword  he  must  be  killed.  Here  is  the 
patience  and  the  faith  of  the  saints. 

The  saints  have  just  been  forewarned  that  authority  has 
been  given  unto  the  beast  to  make  war  upon  them,  and  to 
overcome  them  in  the  sense  of  subjecting  them  to  martyr- 
dom, and  here  they  are  forewarned  that  no  one  will  be  able 
to  escape  his  predetermined  destiny  in  this  respect,  as  in  the 
prophet  :  "  When  they  shall  say  unto  thee,  Whither  shall  we 
go  forth  ?  then  thou  shalt  tell  them.     Thus  saith  the  Lord, 

Such  as  are  for  death,  unto  death, 

And  such  as  are  for  the  sword,  unto  the  sword, 

And  such  as  are  for  the  famine,  unto  the  famine, 

And  such  as  are  for  the  captivity,  unto  the  captivity  "  (Jer.  xv.  2  ;  xliii.  11). 

Here,  therefore,  is  the  place  for  the  exercise  of  their  faith 
and  patience.  All  these  trials  they  must  bear  with  resig- 
nation, as  essential  to  the  efficacy  of  their  witness-bearing, 
and  to  the  triumph  of  their  cause  in  the  end,  in  which  they 
also  themselves  shall  triumph.  They  must  accept  these  per- 
secutions as  the  Lord  did  His  cross,  because  thus  it  stands 
written  in  the  eternal  all-wise  purposes  of  God,  and  thus  only 
can  the  crowning  result  be  achieved. 

Thus  we  see  that  this  beast  out  of  the  sea  is  the  symbol  of 
nations  and  their  governments  in  opposition  to  the  Lord  and 
His  kingdom  :  one  form  of  that  great  antichristian  world- 
power,  '  which  spiritually  is  called  Sodom  and  Egypt,'  which 
crucified  the  Lord  (221),  and  of  which  we  shall  have  here- 
after a  large  development  under  the  symbol  of  Great  Baby- 
lon where  this  beast  will  reappear. 

It  should  be  a  great  consolation  to  us  Americans,  that  our 
government  has  never  been  a  persecuting  power.  However 
great  our  national  sins,  this  certainly  is  not  one  of  them. 
And  though,  from  our  persistent  refusal  to  acknowledge  God 
and  His  Christ  in  our  fardamental  and  organic  law,  we  have 


ANTICHRISTIAN  SECULAR  POWER  25  I 

much  to  fear,  yet  we  are  not  left  without  hope  that  for  this 
sin  we  shall  be  forgiven,  since  we  have  never  persecuted 
His  saints  ;  and  that  His  forgiveness  and  grace  will  bring  us 
at  last  to  this  acknowledgment,  and  will  purify  our  national 
life  from  its  manifold  corruptions.  For  this  blessed  con- 
summation surely  we  ought  all  to  labor  and  pray  without 
ceasing. 


XXIX 

THE  BEAST   OUT   OF  THE   EARTH      ANTICHRISTIAN   ECCLE- 
SIASTICAL  POWER      XIII    II-18 

As  in  the  preceding  vision  we  have  seen  antichristian  secu- 
lar power  symbolically  represented,  so  here  we  have  a  no  less 
striking  symbol  of  antichristian  ecclesiastical  power,  that  is  to 
say,  of  the  church  corrupted  and  perverted  by  the  world,  and 
persecuting  the  true  people  of  God.  We  shall  find  also  the 
closest  relations  subsisting  between  these  two  great  enemies 
of  the  Lord  and  His  kingdom;  both  of  them  being  repre- 
sented as  beasts  for  reasons  which  have  been  given  (220),  but 
with  demon  modifications  which  will  more  fully  appear  in 
the  sequel. 

1 1  And  I  saw  another  beast  coming  up  out  of  the  earth  :  and  he  had 
two  horns  like  unto  a  lamb,  and  he  spake  as  a  dragon. 

As  the  symbol  of  antichristian  political  power  rises  out  of 
the  sea  of  nations  and  peoples  (244),  so  appropriately  that  of 
antichristian  church  power  rises  out  of  the  earth,  which  is  the 
constant  symbol  of  the  natural  life  of  man  (153),  to  signify 
that,  whatever  the  claims  or  pretensions  of  this  power,  it  is 
nothing  of  a  spiritual  nature,  but  is,  indeed,  'of  the  earth 
earthy  '  (i  Cor.  xv.  47).  Yet  too  much  stress  is  not  to  be 
laid  upon  this  distinction,  inasmuch  as  these  two  forms  of 
life  are  at  bottom  one  and  the  same,  political  being  only  a 
special  modification  of  natural  life:  and  a  fundamental  iden- 
tity between  them  seems  to  be  recognized  in  the  correspond- 
ing vision  of  Daniel,  where  the  beasts  that  rise  out  of  the 
sea  are  interpreted  as  representing  '  kings  '  or  governments 
that  'rise  out  of  the  earth'  (Dan.  vii.  3,  17).  This  one  has 
(252) 


AN  TICHRISTIAN  ECCLESIA  STICAL  PO  WER  253 

the  two  horns  of  a  lamb,  the  sacrificial  animal,  as  claiming 
to  be  of  a  spiritual  nature,  and  to  derive  his  power  from  the 
Lamb  of  God,  whose  innocence  and  meekness  he  simulates: 
for  antichristian  church  power  always  claims  to  be  held  from 
the  Lord,  to  be  exercised  in  His  name  for  spiritual  ends, 
with  unblushing  pretensions  to  lamblike  innocence  and  meek- 
ness, as  exemplified  in  the  bloodiest  persecutions  of  papal 
Rome,  even  those  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition.  It  is  in  all 
these  false  claims  and  teaching  that  this  baleful  power 
*  speaks  as  a  dragon  '  or  serpent,  which  connects  it  imme- 
diately with  the  great  red  dragon  of  the  preceding  vision, 
thus  signifying  that  its  wisdom  is  the  wisdom  of  subtlety 
(235),  that  its  teaching  is  a  system  of  lies,  '  a  doctrine  of 
devils  '  (i  Tim.  iv.  i),  that  it  speaks  the  words,  and  is  an 
agent  or  instrument  of  '  the  father  of  lies,  who  was  also  a 
murderer  from  the  beginning  '  (John  viii.  44). 

12  And  he  exerciseth  all  the  authority  of  the  first  beast  before  him  ; 
and  he  maketh  the  earth  and  them  that  dwell  therein  to  worship  the 
first  beast  whose  wound  of  death  was  healed. 

This  authority,  which  was  originally  derived  from  Satan 
(244),  he  exercises  '  before,'  or  in  the  presence  of  the  former 
beast,  in  the  sense  that  it  is  with  his  full  consent  and  appro- 
bation, thus  denoting  the  closest  alliance  between  these  two 
forms  of  antichristian  power.  The  reference  here,  and,  in- 
deed, throughout  the  whole  vision,  to  the  papacy,  as  the 
most  perfect  example  of  antichristian  church  power,  is  very 
striking,  and  has  often  been  pointed  out;  for  that  corrupt 
and  apostate  church  has  always  claimed  to  exercise  the 
authority  of  secular  governments,  and  most  of  them  have,  at 
one  time  or  another,  submitted  to  her  claims.  Even  to  this 
day  the  pope  claims  to  be  a  temporal  prince.  In  this  way 
she  has  caused  mankind  to  worship  antichristian  secular 
power,  as  reproduced  and  embodied  in  herself  with  religious 
sanctions,  and  in  the  secular  governments  which  have  been 
upheld  by  her  influence,  with  all  their  persecuting  enormities 
and  crimes:  and  thus,  as  we  have  seen  before,  the  wound  of 
the  former  beast  was  healed  (246). 


254  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

13  And  he  doeth  great  signs,  that  he  should  even  make  fire  to  come 
down  from  heaven  unto  the  earth  before  men :  14  and  he  deceiveth 
them  that  dwell  upon  the  earth  by  the  signs  which  w^ere  given  unto 
him  to  do  before  the  beast,  saying  unto  them  that  dwell  upon  the  earth, 
that  they  should  make  an  image  unto  the  beast  which  had  the  w^ound 
of  the  sword  and  did  live. 

These  great  signs  are  not  to  be  understood  as  genuine, 
but  as  pretended  miracles,  similar  to  those  of  the  Egyptian 
sorcerers  before  Pharaoh  and  his  court,  which  are  character- 
ized as  having  been  wrought  '  by  their  secret  arts  '  (Ex.  vii. 
11).  Hence  they  are  not  said  to  be  wrought  before  God,  but 
'  before  man  '  and  '  before  the  former  beast,'  to  denote  that 
they  are  such  as  appear  to  be  miracles,  and  are  accepted  as 
such  by  men  in  general  and  by  the  political  powers.  It  is 
added,  that  by  these  signs  the  earth-dwellers,  i.  e.  those  who 
are  immersed  in  the  natural  or  earthly  life,  are  deceived,  or 
seduced,  to  make  an  image  unto  the  beast  whose  wound  was 
healed,  and,  as  subsequently  stated,  to  worship  it;  in  other 
words,  to  reverence,  and  submit  their  minds  and  consciences 
to  that  antichristian  and  persecuting  power  which  they  set 
up  in  papal  Rome  in  the  exact  image  and  likeness  of  pagan 
Rome.  It  may  be  also  that  we  have  here,  as  it  were,  a  glance 
aside  at  that  vast  system  of  image  worship  which  has  been 
so  long  established  in  the  papal  church.  However  this  may 
be,  the  idea  of  antichristian  church  power  as  a  worker  of 
pretended  miracles,  is  of  such  importance  that  we  shall  find 
it  still  further  developed  and  emphasized  under  the  symbol 
of  the  false  prophet  into  which  this  beast  out  of  the  earth 
is  ultimately  changed  (Rev.  xix.  20). 

15  And  it  was  given  unto  him  to  give  a  spirit  unto  the  image  of  the 
beast,  that  the  image  of  the  beast  should  both  speak  and  cause  that  as 
many  as  would  not  worship  the  image  of  the  beast  should  be  killed. 

The  meaning  is,  that  this  image  of  pagan  Rome,  set  up  in 
papal  Rome,  would  be  no  lifeless  idol,  '  which  could  neither 
see  nor  hear  nor  walk  '  (193),  but  something  infinitely  more 
deadl}'^,  a  living  power,  which  would  speak  with  authority, 
and  cause  those  who  should  refuse  to  reverence  and  submit 


A NTICHRISTIAN  ECCLESIASTICAL  PO  WER  255 

to  it  to  be  put  to  death.  How  all  this  has  been  realized  in 
papal  Rome  need  not  be  more  than  alluded  to;  for  her  whole 
history,  until  a  few  years  ago  she  was  shorn  of  her  temporal 
power,  was  one  continual  exercise  of  it  in  causing  to  be  put  to 
death  those  who  refused  to  acknowledge  and  submit  to  her 
authority. 

16  And  he  causeth  all,  the  small  and  the  great,  the  rich  and  the 
poor,  the  free  and  the  bond,  to  receive  a  mark  on  their  right  hand,  or 
on  their  forehead  ;  17  and  that  no  man  should  be  able  to  buy  or  to  sell, 
save  he  that  had  the  mark,  the  name  of  the  beast,  or  the  number  of  his 
name. 

We  have  here,  both  in  expressive  imagery  and  in  literal 
description,  the  Romish  excommunication  and  interdict, 
which  prohibited  all  buying  from,  and  selling  to,  an  excom- 
municated person.  No  one  was  permitted  to  supply  him 
with  food  or  clothing,  fire  or  light,  nor  to  entertain  him  as  a 
guest,  however  great  his  need,  nor  to  minister  to  him  in  sick- 
ness, nor  even  to  speak  to  him.  The  most  diabolical  male- 
dictions were  pronounced  upon  him  in  all  the  organs  and 
parts  of  his  body  and  mind,  in  the  exercise  of  all  his  natural 
functions,  and  even  in  medical  and  surgical  treatment.  He 
was  cast  out  from  all  communion  with  his  fellow  men,  ac- 
cording to  the  literal  meaning  of  the  word,  excommunica- 
tion. And  the  interdict  was  the  excommunication  of  a  whole 
people,  all  of  whom  were  prohibited  from  buying  and  sell- 
ing, and  placed  under  all  the  disabilities  and  maledictions  of 
an  excommunicated  individual.  The  consequences  of  such 
interdicts,  while  the  church  retained  her  power  to  enforce 
them,  were  such  enormous  distress  and  misery  as  were  utterly 
intolerable  and  altogether  indescribable  :  and  the  greatest 
monarchs  were  sometimes  compelled  to  make  their  submission 
on  their  knees  with  the  most  abject  humiliations  at  the  foot 
of  the  papal  throne,  in  order  to  get  them  taken  off  from  them- 
selves and  their  people.  Hence  this  mark  of  the  beast  on 
the  forehead  or  right  hand,  which  only  could  protect  men 
from  such  consequences,  is  to  be  understood  as  their  sub- 
mission of  mind,  conscience,  and  life  to  the  authority  of  anti- 
christian  ecclesiastical  power. 


256  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

18  Here  is  wisdom.  Let  him  that  hath  the  understanding  reckon 
the  number  of  the  beast,  for  it  is  the  number  of  a  man,  and  his  number 
is  six  hundred  and  sixty-six. 

The  emphatic  declaration, '  Here  is  wisdom,'  refers  to  what 
immediately  follows,  in  order  that  the  people  of  God  may  be 
impressed  with  its  importance,  and  put  on  their  guard 
against  this  baleful  power.  It  expresses  also  what  is 
equally  true  of  all  the  symbols  of  these  visions,  and  hence  it 
has  been  adopted  as  the  motto  of  this  book.  In  order  to  en- 
sure that  this  symbol  shall  be  understood,  the  Apocalyptist 
is  careful  to  put  into  our  hands  a  key  to  its  meaning,  yet  in 
the  form  of  a  riddle  doubtless  to  preserve  his  work  from  be- 
ing destroyed  by  the  power  which  it  holds  up  to  reprobation. 
For  if  he  had  said  in  so  many  words,  This  vision  represents 
a  form  of  antichristianity  which  will  be  developed  and  sig- 
nally exemplified  hereafter  in  the  church  of  Rome,  it  can 
hardly  be  doubted  but  that  the  work  would  have  been  ex- 
cluded from  the  Sacred  Canon,  and  every  copy  of  it  de- 
stroyed, when  that  church  came  to  dominate  over  the  civil- 
ized world.  In  order  to  preserve  it  from  this  fate  the  author 
put  the  key-word  of  this  symbol  into  a  riddle,  which  only 
those  who  *  had  the  understanding  '  would  be  able  to  solve. 
Indeed,  very  different  solutions  of  it  have  been  proposed,  but 
they  all  rest  on  one  fact,  that  the  alphabet  in  those  times 
was  used  as  numerals  ;  a  custom  which  we  still  retain  to  a 
certain  extent,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Roman  alphabet,  in 
which  X  =  io,  C  =  ioo,  D  =  5oo,  M  =  iooo.  According  to 
this  mode  of  reckoning,  e.  g.  the  number  of  a  man  named 
Alexander,  A\EB,avSpoi,  is  as  follows  :  ^4  =  i,  A  =  3o,  £=  5, 
^  =  60,  «'=!,  K  =  5o,  (^  =  4,  p^ioo,  0=70,  ?=  200  ;  the 
sum  of  which  =  521.  Hence  for  the  solution  of  this  riddle 
what  we  have  to  do  is  to  find  a  man's  name  the  Greek  letters 
of  which  have  the  numerical  value  of  666.  Now,  although 
several  names  would  satisfy  this  condition,  yet  there  is  only 
one  that  agrees  with  the  foregoing  interpretation  of  the 
vision,  and  that  is  Lateinus,  in  Greek  Aareivo?,  the  name  of 
a  man  from  whom  the  Roman  or  Latin  people  were  supposed 


ANTICHRISTIAN  ECCLESIASIICAL  POWER 


257 


to  be  descended,  and  not  uncommon  among  them,  the  nu- 
merical value  of  which  is  as  follows  :  ^  =  30,  a=i,  r=3oo, 
f  =  5,  1=10,  r  =  K,o,  0  =  70,  ?=  200,  and  the  sum  =  666.  In 
confirmation  of  this  solution  it  should  be  mentioned,  that  it 
was  first  suggested  by  Irenaeus,  a  disciple  of  Polycarp,  who 
had  sat  at  the  feet  of  St.  John  himself  (54);  and  hence, 
though  Irenaeus  only  refers  to  it  as  a  '  probable  '  solution,  it 
may  well  be  supposed  to  have  come  down  from  St.  John's 
own  lips  :  in  all  which  we  have  what  seems  not  an  improba- 
ble suggestion,  that  there  may  have  been  in  the  primitive 
church  an  esoteric  interpretation  of  the  whole  work  by  its 
author,  but  which  was  destroyed,  or  allowed  to  perish,  when 
the  church  of  Rome  became  universally  predominant,  be- 
cause she  could  not  accept  it  without  acknowledging  herself 
to  be  such  as  she  is  here  and  elsewhere  represented.  Indeed, 
some  remains  of  this  interpretation  may  have  been  embodied 
in  the  commentary  upon  the  book  by  Melito,  pastor  of  the 
church  in  Sardis,  whence  perhaps  that  work  also  was  de- 
stroyed, or  allowed  to  perish  (82). 

In  recapitulation,  we  have  here  the  symbol  of  antichristian 
ecclesiastical  power,  with  special,  though  by  no  means  exclu- 
sive reference  to  the  church  of  Rome,  in  which  this  power 
has  been  most  perfectly  exemplified  and  most  signally  illus- 
trated. It  rises  out  of  the  earth,  to  signify  that  it  is  nothing 
of  a  spiritual  nature,  but  belongs  altogether  to  the  earthly 
or  worldly  life  of  man.  It  has  the  two  horns  of  a  lamb,  as 
claiming  a  spiritual  character,  and  to  be  derived  and  held 
from  the  Lamb  of  God,  in  whose  name  it  is  exercised.  It 
speaks  as  a  dragon  or  serpent,  to  denote  the  subtlety  of  its 
wisdom,  the  falsehood  of  its  claims  and  teachings,  that  it 
proceeds  from,  and  is  an  instrument  of,  Satan.  It  exercises 
all  the  authority  of  the  former  beast,  to  signify  that  papal 
Rome,  e.  g.  would  become  a  temporal  princedom,  and  would 
exercise  all  the  authority  of  the  antichristian  secular  powers, 
especially  that  of  pagan  Rome,  in  persecuting  the  saints. 
Thus  it  caused  to  be  set  up  an  image  of  pagan  Rome,  and  of 
its  life,  so  that  it  could  speak  and  teach,  and  persecute  unto 
death  all  Avho  should  refuse  to  reverence  and  submit  to  it. 


258  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

Thus  also  the  apparently  fatal  wound,  which  the  persecuting 
power  of  pagan  Rome  had  received  in  the  accession  to  the 
throne  of  the  first  Christian  emperor,  was  healed  :  persecu- 
tion was  revived  and  restored  to  its  former  activity.  This 
power  works  great  signs  to  deceive  and  seduce  men  to  worship 
the  image  which  it  sets  up,  to  signify  that  papal  Rome  would 
work  thousands  of  pretended  miracles,  and  thus  would  sub- 
jugate the  minds  and  consciences  of  men  to  her  domination, 
and  cause  them  to  reverence  and  submit  to  this  likeness  of 
pagan  Rome  in  herself.  It  sets  a  mark  upon  men,  and  pro- 
hibits those  who  have  not  this  mark  from  buying  and  selling, 
and  causes  them  to  be  put  to  death,  to  signify  that  the  church 
of  Rome  would  claim  that  none  but  her  own  members  had  any 
right  to  live  and  prosper,  and  would  put  those  who  should 
strive  to  emancipate  themselves  from  her  authority  under 
ban  with  respect  to  life  with  all  its  functions  and  privileges. 
In  fine,  the  number  of  this  persecuting  power  is  contained  in 
the  name  of  a  man  the  letters  of  which  have  the  numerical 
value  of  666,  and  that  name  is  Lateinos,  Latin,  because  this 
church  would  call  herself  by  this  name  and  bear  it  through  all 
the  ages  ;  because  the  Latin  would  be  her  sacred  language 
among  all  nations  ;  and  in  her  the  antichristian  and  persecu- 
ting character  and  spirit  of  Latin  paganism  would  be  re- 
stored. 

In  view  of  all  this,  it  would  seem  that  it  must  be  plain  to 
every  unbiassed  mind  that,  as  the  former  beast  is  the  symbol 
of  antichristian  secular  power,  with  special  reference  to 
pagan  Rome,  so  this  latter  is  the  symbol  of  antichristian 
ecclesiastical  power,  with  a  like  special  reference  to  papal 
Rome.  I  at  least  cannot  help  being  amazed  and  filled  with 
awe  at  the  vividness  and  particularity  of  this  wonderful  proph- 
ecy, and  at  its  no  less  wonderful  fulfilment.  I  am  constrained, 
whether  I  would  or  not,  to  see  in  it  a  marvellous  revelation 
of  the  foreknowledge  of  God,  and  of  the  plenary  inspiration 
of  this  book.  For  although  I  can  conceive  that  St.  John,  by 
the  piercing  insight  and  artistic  power  of  his  great  genius, 
might  have  wrought  out,  in  most  of  its  particulars  at  least, 
the  symbol  of  the  former  beast,  since  he  had  the  persecutions 


ANTICHRISTIAN  ECCLESIASTICAL  POWER  259 

of  pagan  Rome  before  his  eyes,  and  had  suffered  them  in  his 
own  person  ;  yet  how  he  could  foresee  by  any  mere  human 
wisdom  that  this  persecuting  power  would  receive  an  appar- 
ently fatal  wound  ;  that  this  wound  would  be  healed,  and 
persecution  revived  by  the  church  which  had  suffered  so 
much  from  it ;  that  she  would  thus  set  up  and  constitute  an 
image  of  pagan  Rome,  and  cause  men  to  reverence  it ;  that 
she  would  prohibit  those  who  should  refuse  from  buying  and 
selling,  and  would  cause  them  to  be  put  to  death  ;  that  she 
would  claim  to  derive  her  authority  for  these  abominations 
from  the  Lamb  of  God,  and  would  exercise  it  in  His  name, 
who  Himself  had  been  crucified  by  just  such  persecution,  and 
all  whose  teachings  were  one  protest  against  it  ;  that  she 
would  support  her  impious  claims  by  a  vast  system  of  lying 
wonders,  by  which  the  minds  and  consciences  of  men  would 
be  subjugated  to  her  pov/er  :  and  how  St.  John,  by  his  own 
foresight,  could  give  the  precise  number  of  the  name  by 
which  she  would  call  herself  and  be  known  in  all  ages  and 
countries  :  of  this  I  cannot  conceive  ;  manifestly  it  trans- 
cends all  the  natural  powers  of  the  human  mind  ;  it  is  the 
wisdom  of  God,  so  revealed  that  it  cannot  fail  to  be  recog- 
nized by  all  whose  minds  are  open  to  the  truth.  Surely  we 
need  no  other  evidence  of  the  plenary  inspiration  of  this 
book,  nor  of  the  immense  importance  to  all  mankind  of  v/hat 
it  unveils,  than  that  which  is  given  us  in  this  vision  of  the 
beast  that  comes  up  out  of  the  earth  with  the  horns  of  a 
lamb  and  the  speech  of  a  dragon. 


XXX 

THE   CXLIV   THOUSAND   ON   THE    HEAVENLY   MOUNT   ZIOK 
THE   CHURCH   OF   THE   SAVED   TRIUMPHANT      XIV    I-5 

This  vision,  like  several  others  that  precede  it  (229),  antici- 
pates the  whole  result  of  the  Lord's  redemptive  work,  and 
represents  it  as  it  will  appear  at  the  close  of  the  dispensation. 
For  here  we  are  given  to  see  those  who  have  been  saved  out 
of  the  world  in  their  glorified  heavenly  state,  celebrating 
their  redemption  and  salvation:  from  which  point  of  view 
the  vision  takes  occasion  to  describe  and  emphasize  the 
purity  and  beauty  of  their  lives  while  they  dwelt  upon  the 
earth.  Its  practical  object,  as  that  of  several  of  the  follow- 
ing, seems  to  be  the  confirmation  of  the  faith  and  patience  of 
living  saints  in  view  of  the  seven  last  plagues,  which,  in  the 
cyclical  order  of  the  visions,  are  yet  to  come  upon  the 
world  (228). 

I  And  I  saw,  and,  behold,  the  Lamb  standing  upon  Mount  Zion, 
and  with  Him  cxliv  thousand,  having  His  name,  and  the  name  of  His 
Father,  written  on  their  foreheads. 

This  Mount  Zion  must  be  interpreted  in  accordance  with 
the  symbolical  character  of  the  book,  as  being  itself  a  sym- 
bol; for  that  it  is  not  to  be  understood  as  the  mountain  of 
that  name  in  Jerusalem  is  evident  from  the  subsequent  state- 
ment, that  the  voices  of  those  who  here  stand  upon  it  are 
heard  '  from  heaven.'  What  it  signifies  will  be  evident  if  we 
consider  the  command  given  to  Moses  concerning  the  taber- 
nacle and  its  furniture:  "  See,  saith  He,  that  thou  make  all 
things  according  to  the  pattern  that  was  shewed  thee  in  the 
mount"  (Heb.  viii.  5);  which  implies  a  certain  correspond- 
(260) 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  SAVED   TRIUMPHANT        26 1 

ence  between  things  on  earth  and  things  in  heaven:  also, 
what  St.  Paul  says  concerning  *  the  Jerusalem  that  is  above, 
.  .  which  is  our  mother'  (Gal.  iv.  26).  For  in  like  manner, 
we  have  in  these  visions  a  heavenly  temple,  with  its  sanc- 
tuary and  Holy  of  Holies,  its  altars,  and  its  ark  of  the  cove- 
nant, and  here,  in  fine,  a  heavenly  Mount  Zion,  upon  which 
the  temple  stands,  surrounded  by  the  heavenly  Jerusalem. 
It  is  here,  then,  on  these  heights  of  the  spiritual  world,  that 
the  Lamb  is  now  seen,  with  His  cxliv  thousand  (155), 
the  elect  of  God,  the  church  of  the  saved,  who  have  been 
'  sealed  with  the  seal  of  the  living  God,'  the  significance  of 
which  has  been  given  (154).  In  this  place,  however,  we 
have  the  additional  information,  that  the  inscription  on  the 
seal  impresses  upon  their  foreheads  the  names  of  the  Lamb 
and  of  His  Father;  for  although  but  one  of  these  is  in  our 
common  version,  both  are  found  in  the  best  manuscripts. 
The  significance  of  these  names,  as  sealed  upon  the  fore- 
heads of  the  saved,  is  that  their  spiritual  faculties  are  conse- 
crated and  sanctified  unto  God  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  hence  their  salvation,  as  in  the  words  of  the  Lord  : 
"  This  is  eternal  life,  that  they  should  know  thee,  the  only 
true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  thou  hast  sent  "  (John 
xvii.  3). 

2  And  I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven,  as  the  voice  of  many  waters, 
and  as  the  voice  of  great  thunder ;  and  the  voice  which  I  heard  was 
as  of  harpers  harping  upon  their  harps  :  3  and  they  sing  a  new  song 
before  the  throne,  and  before  the  living  creatures  and  the  elders  ;  and 
no  one  was  able  to  learn  the  song  save  the  cxliv  thousand  who  were 
redeemed  from  the  earth. 

This  is  one  of  the  passages  which  determine  that  these 
throned  and  crowned  elders  do  not  represent  either  the  whole 
or  any  part  of  the  redeemed  church,  for  this  song  is  not  sung 
by  them,  but  before  them  (iii),  also  before  the  living  creatures 
(113).  The  strange  perplexities  in  which  they  involve  them- 
selves who  are  driven  by  their  pre-millenarian  theory  to  u  nder- 
stand  that  the  cxliv  thousand  do  not  sing  this  song,  because 
they  stand  on  the  literal  Mount  Zion,  may  be  seen  in  Alford's 
Commentary  in  loco.     For  nothing  can  be  plainer  to  those 


262  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

who  are  not  blinded  by  prejudice  than  that  it  is  sung  by 
the  cxiiv  thousand  to  the  music  of  their  harps,  and  that  no 
one  else  can  learn  it,  because  it  is  a  song  of  thanksgiving 
and  praise  for  their  having  been  '  redeemed  from  the  earth.' 
The  words,  indeed,  are  not  given,  but  no  doubt  they  are  the 
same  in  substance  with  the  doxology:  **  Unto  I-Iim  that 
loveth  us,  and  hath  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  His  blood, 
and  hath  made  us  a  kingdom,  priests  unto  God  and  His 
Father,  unto  Him  be  the  glory  and  the  dominion  forever  and 
ever"  (15).  Accepting  this  as  the  substance  of  the  song  of 
these  redeemed  souls,  we  see  how  it  stands  in  striking  con- 
trast with  that  other  '  new  song  '  which  we  have  heard  from 
the  elders  and  living  creatures:  "  Worthy  art  thou  to  take 
the  book,  and  to  open  the  seals  thereof;  for  thou  wast  slain 
in  sacrifice,  and  hast  redeemed  unto  God  with  thy  blood  out 
of  every  tribe  and  tongue  and  people  and  nation,  and  hast 
made  them  a  kingdom  and  priests  unto  our  God,  and  they 
reign  over  the  earth."  The  point  of  contrast  lies  between 
*  us,'  in  one  song,  and  '  them  '  in  the  other;  wherein  we  have 
other  proofs  that  these  elders  do  not  represent  the  church, 
and  see  how  consistently  the  symbolism  of  the  book  is  pre- 
served. Moreover,  that  none  could  learn  this  song  but  the 
cxliv  thousand  is  evidence  demonstrative,  that  they  in- 
clude the  whole  church  of  the  saved.  In  fine,  it  is  as  the 
sound  of  many  waters  and  of  great  thunder,  because  it  is 
sung  by  that  'great  multitude  which  no  man  could  number' 
(157)  who  are  represented  by  the  cxliv  thousand;  and  it  is 
'as  of  harpers  harping  on  their  harps,'  to  denote  its  joyful 
festivity, 

4  These  are  they  who  are  not  defiled  with  w^omen,  for  they  are 
virgins  :  these  are  they  ■who  foIlow^  the  Lamb  whithersoever  He  may 
go  :  these  w^ere  redeemed  from  among  men,  the  firstfruits  unto  God 
and  the  Lamb  :  5  and  in  their  mouth  was  found  no  guile  :  they  are 
blameless. 

The  words,  '  are  not  defiled  with  women,  for  they  are  vir- 
gins,' are  to  be  interpreted  as  symbols,  to  denote  the  purity 
in  which  the  saved  have  passed  their  lives  on  earth;  certainly 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  SA  VED  TRIUMPHANT        263 

not  in  any  disparagement  of  lawful  marriage,  as  if  that  sacra- 
mental sign  of  the  holiest  of  all  relations,  namely,  that 
between  the  Lord  and  His  Bride  the  church,  could  be 
regarded  as  in  any  wise  a  defilement.  Also,  they  follow 
the  Lamb  whithersoever  He  may  go,  i.  e.  their  faith  in 
Him  is  such  that  they  do  not  strive  to  know  beforehand 
whither  He  intends  to  lead  them;  they  are  implicitly  sub- 
missive and  obedient  to  all  His  commandments  and  ordi- 
nances ;  and  they  conform  themselves  to  the  example  of  His 
life.  No  guile  or  lie  is  found  in  their  mouths  and  they  are 
blameless.  Of  course,  these  words,  as  descriptive  of  the 
characters  of  God's  people,  cannot  be  taken  in  an  absolute 
sense,  for  'if  we  say  that  we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  our- 
selves, and  the  truth  is  not  in  us'  (i  John  i.  8);  but  they 
describe  the  general  tenor  of  the  lives  of  the  followers  of  the 
Lamb,  otherwise  they  could  not  be  His  followers.  For  they 
have  been  efficaciously  redeemed  from  the  corruptions  of  the 
worldly  life  by  the  sacrifice  of  Christ:  "Ye  were  redeemed, 
not  with  corruptible  things,  with  silver  or  gold,  from  your 
vain  manner  of  life  handed  down  from  your  forefathers,  but 
with  precious  blood,  as  of  a  lamb  without  blemish  and  spot- 
less, [even  the  blood]  of  Christ"  (i  Pet.  i.  18-19).  But  in 
what  sense  are  they  called  *  the  firstfruits  unto  God  and  the 
Lamb'  (157),  and  elsewhere  'a  kind  of  firstfruits  of  His 
creatures  '  (James  i.  18);  also,  '  the  church  of  the  firstborn  '  ? 
(Heb.  xii.  23).  In  explanation  of  these  peculiar  forms  of 
expression  it  may  be  said  that  they  are  called  '  firstborn,'  as 
the  followers  of  Him  who  is  *  the  firstborn  of  all  creation  ' 
(Col.  i.  15),  and  as  the  inheritors  of  the  heavenly  inheritance, 
'heirs  of  God,  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ'  (Rom.  viii.  17); 
and  they  are  '  firstfruits,'  as  being  consecrated  to  God  and 
holy,  in  reference  also  to  the  palingenesia  of  the  whole 
creation,  or  'restoration  of  all  things'  (viii.  19-22),  which 
follows  their  ingathering. 

Some  of  these  traits  of  moral  character  ascribed  to  the 
followers  of  the  Lamb  seem  to  require  our  special  attention. 

I.  They  live  in  purity,  as  regards  the  seventh  command- 
ment.    This,  indeed,  as  we  have  seen,  cannot  be  said  of  them 


254  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

without  qualification,  yet  we  must  understand  that  their 
'  virginity  '  represents  a  very  different  manner  of  life,  with 
respect  to  sexual  purity,  from  that  which  prevails  in  the 
world.  Yet  it  is  to  be  feared  that  there  is  an  increasing 
laxity  in  this  particular  among  professed  Christians,  as  there 
certainly  is  in  society  at  large;  than  which  nothing  can  be 
more  inconsistent  with  true  piety,  or  more  destructive 
of  human  welfare  in  general.  The  enormous  increase  of 
divorces  of  late,  often  for  trivial  causes,  is  one  of  the  most 
alarming  signs  of  the  times  (68);  in  respect  to  which,  as  in 
all  morality.  Christian  society  ought  to  be  eminently  distin- 
guished from  that  of  the  world.  For  it  is  essential  to  every- 
thing worthy  of  the  name  of  piety,  that  it  should  keep  itself 
■untainted  with  the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  and  be  characterized  by 
true  '  chastity  in  heart,  speech,  and  behavior.'  Parents, 
therefore,  cannot  be  too  careful  for  their  children  in  this 
matter,  especially  with  respect  to  their  reading;  for  many  of 
the  books  which  are  commonly  regarded  as  harmless  are 
interesting  to  young  people  chiefly  from  their  vivid  portrayal 
of  the  relations  and  affections  between  the  sexes.  By  the 
reading  of  such  books  these  affections  are  quickened,  and 
often  prematurely  developed  and  brought  into  exercise  ; 
whereas,  for  the  health  of  the  young,  both  moral  and  phys- 
ical, they  should  be  kept,  as  much  as  possible,  in  abeyance, 
until  life  is  well  matured,  and  the  conscience  has  come  to 
assert  its  divine  authority.  Sabbath-school  superintendents 
and  teachers  also  have  a  great  responsibility  here;  for  very 
much  in  the  literature  of  their  libraries  is  doing  immense 
harm  from  the  mere  fact,  that  it  consists  of  love  stories, 
which,  however  free  from  impurity,  are  nothing  less  than 
spiritual  poison  to  children  and  very  young  people.  No 
mere  love  story,  though  ever  so  proper  in  itself,  should  ever 
be  admitted  into  a  Sabbath-school  library:  better  no  library 
at  all;  for  by  such  reading  the  Lord's  little  ones  are  caused 
to  offend,  their  pure  life  is  corrupted  and  defiled,  through 
the  agency  of  those  whose  most  imperative  duty  it  is  to 
shelter  and  protect  them  from  the  evil  that  is  in  the  world. 
2.  Another  characteristic   moral  trait  of  those  who  shall 


THE  CHURCH  OF  1  HE  SA  VED   TRIUMPHANT        265 

come  to  stand  on  the  heavenly  Mount  Zion  is,  that  they  are 
without  guile  and  blameless,  i.  e.  they  are  simple-minded, 
sincere,  honest,  and  frank-spoken,  so  that  they  give  no  just 
cause  of  offence  or  blame.  For  guile  is  deceit  for  some 
malignant  or  selfish  object,  and  hence  it  always  gives  just 
cause  of  offence  to  those  upon  whom  it  is  practiced.  He  who 
deceives  another  by  word  or  deed  with  any  such  intent;  who 
appraises  what  he  would  sell,  or  depreciates  what  he  would 
buy,  beyond  the  truth;  who  pays  hypocritical  compliments 
to  those  whom  he  despises;  or  who  in  any  way  perverts  the 
truth  for  a  malignant  or  selfish  purpose;  he  practices  guile, 
and  thereby  becomes  a  child  of  *  the  old  serpent,'  who  *  be- 
guiled '  our  first  mother  to  the  original  sin,  which 

Brought  death  into  the  world  and  all  our  woe. 

With  deep  significance,  therefore,  guile  may  be  called  the 
root  of  all  sin. 

3.  Still  another  trait  of  those  who  shall  come  to  stand  on 
this  Mount  is,  that  '  they  follow  the  Lamb  whithersoever  He 
may  go  ':  they  do  not  put  a  difference  between  some  of  His 
commands  and  others,  and  they  accept  His  example  as  valid 
for  them.  They  do  not  say  or  think,  Lord,  thou  hast  com- 
manded us  to  be  sober  and  truthful  and  honest,  and  we  strive 
to  obey;  but,  as  for  thy  commands  to  confess  thee  before 
men,  and  to  observe  thy  sacramental  ordinances,  these  we 
are  not  prepared  to  obey  :  we  wait,  and  thou,  Lord,  must 
wait  till  we  are  better  prepared:  as  if  it  were  possible,  by 
present  disobedience,  to  become  better  prepared  for  future 
obedience!  Neither  do  they  say  or  think,  Oh,  He  was  God; 
we  cannot  be  expected  to  follow  His  example,  to  live  as  He 
lived:  but  they  believe  in  Him,  as  a  man,  who  *  was  tempted 
in  all  points  like  as  we  are  '  (Heb.  iv.  15),  as  the  legitimate 
model  and  exemplar  of  Christian  life. 

Such  is  the  life  in  this  world  of  those  whose  voices  shall  be 
heard  on  the  heavenly  Mount  Zion,  as  the  sound  of  many 
waters  and  of  great  thunder,  whilst  they  sing  this  new  song 
to  the  music  of  *  the  harps  of  God  '  (Rev.  xv.  2),  which  none 
can  learn  but  themselves.  And  he  who  would  sing  it  there 
12 


266  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

must  learn  to  sing  it  here.  He  who  would  be  pure  there 
must  be  pure  here.  He  who  would  be  without  guile  there 
must  be  without  guile  here.  He  that  would  be  blameless 
there  must  be  blameless  here.  He  that  would  follow  the 
Lamb  there  must  follow  Him  here  whithersoever  He  may 
go.  If  we  fail  in  this,  we  fail  of  salvation;  for  'without  holi- 
ness no  man  shall  see  the  Lord  '  (Heb,  xii.  14). 


XXXI 

THE  ANGEL  OF  THE  EVERLASTING  GOSPEL   THE  GOSPEL 
PREACHED  UNTO  ALL  NATIONS   XIV  6-^ 

In  this  vision  we  have  a  symbolical  representation  of  the 
Lord's  prophecy:  "This  gospel  of  the  kingdom  shall  be 
preached  in  all  the  world  for  a  testimony  unto  all  the 
nations  (Mat.  xxiv.  14).  The  gospel  must  first  be  preached 
unto  all  the  nations.  .  .  .  And  then  shall  the  end  come  " 
(Mark  xiii.  10).  It  contains  some  very  interesting  particulars, 
and  affords  us  a  suitable  occasion  to  consider  the  ministry 
of  angels,  especially  in  this  universal  preaching  of  the 
gospel. 

6  And  I  saw  another  angel  flying  in  midheaven,  having  the  ever- 
lasting gospel  to  preach  unto  them  that  dwell  upon  the  earth,  and  to 
every  nation  and  tribe  and  tongue  and  people,  7  saying  with  a  great 
voice,  Fear  God,  and  give  glory  unto  Him,  for  the  hour  of  His  judg- 
ment is  come,  and  worship  Him  who  made  the  heaven  and  the  earth 
and  the  sea  and  the  fountains  of  waters. 

This  angel  flies  in  midheaven,  like  the  eagle  of  a  former 
vision,  that  his  great  voice  may  be  heard  by  all  mankind 
(179).  The  two-fold  enumeration  of  four  particulars  here, 
i.  e.  with  respect  to  the  population  of  the  earth  and  to  the 
created  universe,  recalls  the  symbolical  meaning  of  this  num- 
ber, that  of  the  whole  world,  or  universality  (114).  The 
'  everlasting'  or  '  eternal  gospel'  is  without  the  definite  arti- 
cle in  the  Greek,  which  raises  the  question,  whether  it  is  to 
be  understood  as  the  gospel  in  the  common  acceptation  of 
the  word,  or  as  some  special  glad  tidings  concerning  the  end 
of  the  world.  Commentators  are  much  divided  on  this 
point,   but   probably  both    ideas   are   included.      For   it    is 

(267) 


268  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

expressly  given  as  a  part  of  the  angel's  message,  that  '  the 
hour  of  God's  judgment  has  come,'  and  this  is  joyful  news, 
as  where  it  is  said  in  a  former  vision  :  "  In  the  days  of  the 
voice  of  the  seventh  angel,  when  he  must  sound  his  trum- 
pet, the  mystery  of  God  should  be  finished,  as  He  declared 
the  glad  tidings  to  His  servants  the  prophets"  (199).  And 
that  this  message  includes  the  gospel,  properly  so  called, 
though  with  special  reference  to  the  end,  i.  e.  to  the  final 
establishment  of  the  Lord's  kingdom,  and  the  predicted  tri- 
umph of  good  over  evil  in  this  world,  will  be  evident  from 
the  following  considerations:  (i)  There  never  was,  nor  ever 
can  be,  but  one  *  everlasting  '  or  '  eternal '  gospel,  upon  which 
here  a  strong  emphasis  is  evidently  laid.  Other  glad  tidings, 
of  course,  there  might  be,  whether  pertaining  to  the  coming 
of  the  kingdom,  or  to  other  matters;  but  nothing  that  did 
not  contain  the  very  heait,  substance,  and  object  of  the 
gospel  of  Christ  could,  with  any  propriety,  be  so  called.  (2) 
What  the  angel  has  to  declare  and  publish  is  for  '  them  that 
dwell  upon  the  earth  .  .  every  nation  and  tribe  and  tongue 
and  people';  wherein  it  agrees  with  the  Lord's  command: 
"  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature"  (Mark  xvi.  15).  (3)  The  angel's  message,  'Fear 
God,  and  give  glory  unto  Him,  for  the  hour  of  His  judgment 
is  come,  and  worship  Him,'  expresses  the  substance  and 
object  of  the  whole  gospel,  and  of  the  word  of  God  from 
beginning  to  end,  but  here  with  evident  allusion  to  the 
words  :  "  [This  is]  the  end  of  the  matter ;  all  hath  been 
heard:  Fear  God,  and  keep  His  commandments;  for  this  is 
the  whole  [duty  or  well-being]  of  man.  For  God  will  bring 
every  v/ork  into  judgment,  and  every  hidden  thing,  whether 
it  be  good,  or  whether  it  be  evil "  (Ec.  xii.  13-14).  Thus  we 
see  that  the  great  voice  of  this  angel,  sounding  in  the  ears  of 
all  the  dwellers  upon  earth,  and  commanding  them  to  fear 
and  worship  and  give  glory  to  God,  is  significant  of  the  very 
heart  and  object  of  the  everlasting  gospel.  '  The  heaven  and 
the  earth  and  the  sea  and  the  fountains  of  waters  '  may  be 
taken  here  both  in  their  literal  and  symbolical  import,  as 
representing,   in   the  latter  sense  the   source   of   light,   the 


THE  GOSPEL  PREACHED  UNTO  ALL  NATLONS        269 

natural  life  of  man  (153),  his  national  organizations  (174), 
and  all  the  sources  and  supplies  of  his  spiritual  life  (175). 
For  everything  in  the  creation,  providence,  and  word  of  God 
has  this  practical  object,  that  men  should  fear  and  worship, 
obey  and  glorify  Him.  All  created  things,  all  events,  all 
truths,  all  doctrines  are  means  unto  this  end.  The  incar- 
nation and  sacrifice  of  Christ,  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the 
church  and  sacraments,  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  all  God's 
judgments  and  providential  dealings  with  the  children  of 
men,  cannot  be  otherwise  comprehended  than  as  means  unto 
the  end  of  bringing  them  back  from  their  wanderings  in 
ignorance,  idolatry,  and  immorality  to  the  knowledge,  wor- 
ship, and  obedience  of  the  one  only  living  and  true  God. 
And  it  is  very  necessary  that  we  should  sometimes  withdraw 
our  attention  from  particular  doctrines,  and  fix  it  upon  this 
paramount  practical  object,  as  it  is  here  presented  to  our 
view;  otherwise  we  may  easily  lose  sight  of  it,  as  often  it  has 
been  lost  sight  of,  in  the  multitude  of  the  means  which  it 
employs,  many  of  which  are  of  absorbing  interest.  In  fine, 
the  all-constraining  motive  which  this  angel  presses  upon  us 
to  enforce  his  preaching  is,  that  the  hour  of  God's  judg- 
ment is  come,  when  He  will  render  to  every  man  accord- 
ing to  his  deeds,  which,  indeed,  is  the  subject  of  the  whole 
book  (18). 

Thus  we  see  that  what  is  symbolized  in  this  vision  is  the 
great  evangelizing  or  missionary  work  of  the  church  (199), 
as  running  on  to  the  close  of  the  dispensation,  just  as  it  is 
presented  by  our  Lord  Himself  in  His  declaration:  "Then 
shall  the  end  come  "  (267).  And  the  rapid  advance  and 
glorious  success  of  this  work  in  our  time  ought  surely  to  be 
taken  as  one  of  the  signs  of  the  approaching  consummation; 
for  if  it  should  continue  to  advance  with  constantly  acceler- 
ated speed,  as  in  the  last  twenty  years,  it  cannot  be  long  be- 
fore the  prophecy  of  this  vision  shall  be  amply  fulfilled. 
When  we  consider  what  is  now  going  on  in  the  islands  of 
the  Pacific  Ocean,  in  Africa,  Turkey,  Persia,  India,  Siam, 
China,  and  Japan,  we  can  almost  see  this  great  angel  in  his 
flight  through  midheaven,  and  hear  his  '  great  voice  '  pro- 


270  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

claiming  to  all  the  dwellers  upon  earth,  that  they  shall  '  fear 
God,  and  give  glory  unto  Him,  and  worship  Him,  for  the 
hour  of  His  judgment  is  come.' 

But  what,  then,  we  must  now  enquire,  have  angels  to  do 
with  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  unto  mankind  ?  For  the 
solution  of  this  question  we  must  recall  here  the  name  of 
this  book,  the  Unveiling,  and  that  it  is  so  named  because 
it  withdraws  the  veil  from  the  invisible  world,  and  dis- 
closes to  our  view  those  spiritual  agencies  and  transactions 
from  which  all  that  takes  place  in  this  world  proceeds,  and 
of  which  it  is,  as  it  were,  the  shadow  or  echo  (3).  Thus,  where 
otherwise  we  should  see  only  the  great  missionary  work  of 
the  church,  we  have  here  unveiled  an  angelic  agency  within, 
under,  behind  it,  or  howsoever  it  might  be  expressed,  giving 
it  impetus,  urging  it  on  to  its  consummation.  For  this  angel 
flying  in  midheaven,  having  the  everlasting  gospel  to  preach, 
and  actually  preaching  it  to  all  the  world,  can  signify  nothing 
less,  I  think,  than  that  the  missionary  work  of  the  church  is 
a  matter  of  the  deepest  interest  to  the  holy  angels;  that  they 
have  a  mighty  agency  in  it;  that  they  have  much  to  do  in 
opening  the  doors  of  nations  and  peoples  to  the  gospel;  that 
they  watch  over  the  Holy  Scriptures  to  preserve  them  from 
corruption,  and  to  cause  them  to  be  faithfully  translated  into 
all  the  different  languages,  and  diffused  among  all  the 
nations  of  mankind;  and  that  much  of  what  we  commonly 
ascribe  immediately  to  God  is  due  rather  to  their  intermedi- 
ate agency.  One  thing  at  least  is  plain,  that  the  holy  angels 
are  deeply  interested  in  the  missionary  work,  and  that  in  it 
we  have  their  fullest  sympathy  and  active  co-operation. 
Beyond  this  I  cannot  go  with  certainty,  for  I  do  not  think 
this  symbol  requires  us  to  believe  that  it  is  under  the  super- 
vision or  control  of  any  one  particular  angel,  though  I  would 
by  no  means  deny  that  it  may  be. 

All  this  leads  us  to  notice  here  something  which  runs 
through  the  whole  Scripture,  namely,  that  angels  have  much 
to  do  with  human  affairs.  What  is  taught  us  on  this  sub- 
ject may  be  epitomized  as  follows:  There  are  good  and  bad 
angels,  and  both  are  immensely  numerous. 


THE  GOSPEL  PREACHED  UNTO  ALL  NATIONS        27 1 

1.  Bad  angels  were  once  good,  but  they  fell  from  their 
holy  and  happy  estate  by  the  sin  of  pride,  i.  e.  by  trusting  to 
and  following  their  own  wisdom,  instead  of  the  wisdom  of 
God,  in  the  distinction  and  choice  between  good  and  evil, 
which  is  the  Scriptural  meaning  of  pride,  and  which,  in  a 
deeper  sense  than  guile  (265),  is  necessarily  the  primary  root 
of  all  sin.*  They  are  bitter,  malignant  enemies  of  God  and 
man  and  of  the  holy  angels.  Their  power  is  very  great,  and 
it  is  all  employed  in  doing  evil,  especially  to  men.  They 
tempt  men  to  sin  in  order  to  involve  them  in  perdition.  One 
of  them,  under  the  form  of  a  serpent,  was  the  original 
tempter  of  our  first  parents,  and  '  beguiled  '  them  by  the 
subtlety  of  his  temptations;  for  his  wisdom  is  the  wisdom  of 
subtlety.  He  drew  other  angels  into  transgression,  and  has 
authority  over  them  (236).  He  is  called  their  king,  the 
angel  of  the  abyss,  Satan  or  adversary,  the  devil  or  slanderer, 
the  accuser,  the  tempter,  the  dragon,  the  old  serpent,  the 
prince  of  this  world,  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  Beel- 
zebub, a  liar,  the  father  of  lying,  a  murderer  from  the  begin- 
ning, and  by  other  names  and  titles  of  like  evil  significance. 
He  tempted  Job,  Ananias  and  Sapphira,  Simon  Magus,  and 
the  Lord  Himself;  in  whose  time,  perhaps  also  before  and 
since,  these  bad  angels  entered  into  men,  possessed  their 
bodies  and  minds,  and  produced  epilepsy,  paralysis,  insanity, 
and  other  distressing  maladies  of  soul  and  body.  Some- 
times they  are  employed  as  executioners  of  the  divine  judg- 
ments. No  atonement  has  been  made  for  them,  and  their 
final  destiny  is  to  be  shut  up  in  hell  and  tormented  forever 
in  '  the  fire  which  is  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels  * 
(Mat.  XXV,  41). 

2.  Good  angels  surround  the  throne  of  God  and  worship 
Him  and  His  Christ.  They  were  the  guardians  and  minis- 
ters of  His  humanity  while  He  tabernacled  in  the  flesh. 
They  ministered  to  Him  in  His  great  temptation  in  the 
wilderness  and  in  His  agony  in  Gethsemane,  and  they  min- 
ister to  His  people,  the  '  heirs  of  salvation.'     They  are  God's 


*  See  Wisdom  0/  Holy  Scripture^  vi. 


2/2 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSK 


messengers,  and  bring  His  messages  to  men,  as  at  the  giving 
of  the  law  from  Mount  Sinai,  at  the  birth  of  Christ,  and  in 
the  visions  of  the  prophets.  They  will  act  as  the  ministers 
of  the  Lord  in  the  last  judgment.  They  preside,  in  some 
sort,  over  the  destinies  of  nations;  one  of  them  being  called 
'  the  prince  of  Israel,'  another  '  the  prince  of  Persia,'  another 
'the  prince  of  Grecia  '  (Dan.  x.  20-21),  though  all  these  do 
not  seem  to  have  been  good  angels.  They  are  ministers  and 
executioners  of  national  and  individual  judgments,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  angel  who  stood  over  Jerusalem,  with  a  drawn 
sword  in  his  hand  to  punish  King  David  and  his  people  for 
his  sin  in  numbering  them  (2  Sam.  xxiv.  16).  They  conduct 
the  souls  of  the  pious  dead  to  their  appointed  place,  as 
Lazarus  was  carried  by  the  angels  to  Abraham's  bosom 
(Luke  xvi.  22).  In  fine,  an  eminent  commentator,  from 
whose  work  the  preceding  summary  is  mostly  taken,  has  left 
us  the  following  on  this  subject:  "  I  can  conceive  of  no  more 
magnificent  and  ennobling  view  of  the  Creator  and  Lord  of 
all  things  than  that  which  regards  Him  as  delighting  to  mul- 
tiply, even  to  an  almost  boundless  extent,  beings  in  His  own 
image,  and  therefore  rational  and  moral  like  Himself.  .  .  , 
To  make  Him  the  only  real  agent  in  the  universe,  and  all 
else  the  mere  passive  recipients  of  His  influence,  is  to  repre- 
sent Him  as  the  master  of  a  magnificent  puppet  show,  all  of 
which  He  manages  by  merely  pulling  the  wires  with  His  own 
hands,  and  to  take  from  Him  the  glory  which  results  from 
the  creation  of  numberless  beings  in  His  own  image,  beings 
which  reflect  the  brightness  of  their  great  original.  ...  It  is 
this  intelligent  and  rational  creation  in  which  John  lives  and 
moves  and  thinks  and  speaks.  The  universe,  as  viewed  by 
him,  is  filled  with  ministers  swift  to  do  Jehovah's  will.  They 
stand  before  His  throne;  they  preside  over  nations.  .  .  .  He 
sees  the  angels  of  the  Lord  encamping  round  about  all  them 
that  fear  Him.  Such  is  the  universe  as  unveiled  by  the  Seer 
of  the  Apocalypse." 

Finally,  we  are  admonished  by  this  great  angel  flying  in 
midheaven,  and  with  His  great  voice  proclaiming  this 
message  to  all  mankind,  that  we  should  conform  our  lives  to 


THE  GOSPEL  PREACHED   UNTO  ALL  NATLONS 


273 


the  gospel  which  he  preaches:  that  we  fear  God,  hold  Him  in 
reverence   and   awe :   that  we   reverence    His   holy    names, 
word,  commandments,  ordinances,  providence,  and  all  things 
whereby  He  makes  Himself  known:  that  we  stand  in  awe  of 
His  judgments,  and  give  Him  the  glory  which  is  His  due,  as 
the  Creator  and  Lord  of  heaven,  and  them  that  dwell  therein; 
of  the  earth  and  man,  in  all  the  organs  and  functions  of  his 
natural  life;  of  the  sea  and  all  its  creatures,  and  of  all  man's 
national  and   municipal  organizations;  of  the   fountains  of 
waters,  and  of  all  the  sources  and  supplies  of  our  spiritual 
life:  that  we  render  unto  Him  the  worship  and  service  which, 
as  our  Creator,  Preserver,  and  Saviour,  He  justly  claims,  and 
which  we  cannot  refuse  without  setting  at  naught  all  the 
obligations  which  bind  us  to  Him,  especially  those  of  His 
grace  and  love.     All  this  we  are  here  admonished  to  do  for 
the  urgent  reason,  that  the  hour  of  His  judgment  is  come,  is 
very  near  to  us,  when  He  will  judge  the  world  in  righteous- 
ness, and  render  to  every  one  according  to  his  works.     Let 
us,  then,  ask  ourselves,  each  for  himself.  What  is  my  relation 
to  this  gospel  ?     Does  it  save  me  ?     Or  does  it  leave  me  in 
my  sins  ?     Do  I  fear  God  and  keep  His  commandments  and 
ordinances  ?     Do  I  worship  Him  and  give  Him  the  glory 
which  is  His  due  ?     For  if  we  fail  in  this.  His  judgment,  that 
is.  His  justice,  must  surely  and  speedily  be  executed  upon 
us,  and  there  can  be  no  deliverance  from  its  claims. 


XXXII 

PRE-ANNOUNCEMENT  OF  THE  FALL  OF  BABYLON  JUDG- 
MENT UPON  THE  GREAT  ANTICHRISTIAN  WORLD-POWER 
XIV   8 

Babylon  is  another  symbol  of  the  great  antichristian  world- 
power,  the  same  that  has  been  previously  designated  as  'the 
great  city  which  spiritually  is  called  Sodom  and  Egypt, 
where  also  the  Lord  was  crucified '  (221).  The  symbol  runs 
through  several  of  the  subsequent  visions,  and  is  evidently 
one  of  the  most  important  in  the  book.  Here  the  fall  of 
this  power  is  simply  preannounced,  on  account  of  the  vast 
importance  of  what  it  signifies:  full  particulars  of  it  will  be 
given  hereafter;  and  perhaps  none  of  these  revelations  has  a 
deeper  practical  interest. 

8  And  another,  a  second  angel  followed,  saying.  Fallen,  fallen  is 
Babylon  the  Great,  who  hath  made  all  the  nations  to  drink  of  the  wine 
of  the  rage  of  her  fornication. 

This  angel  is  'a  second  '  with  reference  to  the  one  imme- 
diately preceding,  whom  he  follows  in  flight  through  mid- 
heaven,  proclaiming  his  prophetic  message  with  a  like  great 
voice,  no  doubt,  that  all  the  earth  may  hear  (267).  A  third 
will  follow  still  in  this  sky-picture,  the  sublimity  of  which 
can  hardly  fail  to  strike  every  one. 

In  order  the  more  clearly  and  fully  to  comprehend  what  is 
signified  by  the  symbol  of  Babylon  in  these  visions,  we  shall 
have  to  recall  here  some  particulars  concerning  the  city 
which  bore  this  name,  and  the  vast  empire  which  it  governed. 
It  seems  to  have  been  founded  by  Nimrod,  who  was  of  the 
posterity  of  Ham,  the  rebellious  son  of  Noah  (Gen.  x.  8-12), 
(274) 


THE  GREAT  AX TICHRISTIAN  WORLD-POWER         275 

either  on  the  site,  or  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the 
tower  of  Babel;  in  connection  with  which  we  have  the  post- 
diluvian world  represented  as  in  rebellion  against  God,  and 
His  judgment  upon   that   rebellion   (xi.    1-9).      In   the   old 
Accadian  or  Hamitic  language  of  its  original  inhabitants,  as 
recovered  in  the  cuneiform  inscriptions,  the  name  Babel  is 
said  to  signify  the  High  Gate,  which  is  precisely  equivalent 
to  the  Sublime   Porte,  by  which  the  Turkish  government  at 
Constantinople  is  known  to  this  day;  a  striking  instance  of 
the  changeless  permanence    of  oriental    ideas.      Moses,  on 
account  of  the  confounding  of  language  which  took  place 
there  (Gen.  x.  9),  seems  to  have  regarded  it  as  a  noteworthy 
coincidence,  that  in  Hebrew  it  signified  confusion.     The  city 
of  Babylon,  for  its  size,  architectural  magnificence,  wealth, 
population,  and  power,  was  one  of  the  seven  wonders  of  the 
ancient  world.     At  the  height  of  its  greatness  and  splendor, 
it  was  visited  by  several  intelligent  Greek  travellers,  whose 
descriptions  of  it  have  come  down  to  us,  and  do  not  differ 
more    than    might   be   anticipated    from    independent    eye- 
witnesses.    They  inform   us  that  it  was  built   on  the  river 
Euphrates,  which  ran  through  the  midst  of  the  city,  and 
which,  at  that  place,  is  something  less  than  three-quarters  of 
a  mile  wide.     According  to  the  lowest  measurements  given, 
although  the  author  is  not  so  reliable  in  general  as  the  other 
whose  numbers  are  the  highest,  its  outer  walls  were  a  little 
less  than  42  miles  long,  which,  as  it  was  in  the  form  of  a  per- 
fect square,  would  include  an  area  of  about  no  square  miles. 
The  higher  number  makes  them  60  miles  in  length,  with  an 
area  of  225  square  miles,  more  than  is  contained  within  the 
limits  of  the  city  of  London  with  its  suburbs  at  the  present 
time.     They  were  built  of  sun-dried  brick,  and  reached  to  the 
enormous  height  of  300  feet;  and  they  were  90  feet  thick,  so 
that  three  chariots  could  easily  drive  abreast  of  each  other 
on  their  surface.     Moreover,  they  were  surmounted,  to  what 
additional  height  we  are  not  informed,  by  250  towers;  and 
there  were  loo,  or,  according  to  the  higher  number,  150  vast, 
two-leaved,  brazen  gates.     The  streets  were  very  broad,  ran 
at  right  angles  to  each  other,  and,  where  they  led  down  to  the 


2^6  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YFSE 

river  on  both  banks,  there  were  strong  fortifications  and 
similar  brazen  gates,  for  defence  against  attacks  by  water. 
The  two  divisions  of  the  city  were  connected  by  a  stone 
bridge  roofed  in,  and  by  a  tunnel  under  the  river.  The  walls 
and  gates  are  often  mentioned  in  the  prophets  : 

Though  Babylon  should  mount  up  to  heaven, 
And  though  she  should  fortify  the  height  of  her  strength,  ,  .  . 
The  broad  walls  of  Babylon  shall  be  utterly  overthrown. 
And  her  high  gates  shall  be  burned  with  fire  (Jar.  li.  53-58). 

The  immense  area  within  the  walls  was  not  all  built  up,  but 
land  enough  was  left  for  cultivation  to  provide  the  popula- 
tion with  food  in  case  of  a  protracted  siege.  In  illustration 
of  the  wealth  and  luxury  of  the  city,  one  of  the  Greek  travel- 
lers informs  us  that  it  contained  "  paradises"  or  gardens 
upon  elevated  platforms,  to  which  an  adequate  depth  of  soil 
had  been  carried  up,  where  all  manner  of  shade  and  fruit 
trees  and  flowers  were  cultivated  by  irrigation  from  the 
river. 

The  wealth  and  luxury  and  power  of  the  empire  of  Baby- 
lon, which  included  nearly  the  whole  of  western  Asia  when 
it  was  enormously  populous,  were  celebrated  throughout  the 
known  world.  Its  history  in  the  Bible,  and  in  many  volumes 
of  inscriptions  disinterred  from  the  sites  of  its  great  cities, 
runs  parallel  with  that  of  the  people  of  Israel  for  nearly  a 
thousand  years;  during  which  its  constant  aim  was  the  sub- 
jugation of  Palestine,  in  order  to  the  conquest  of  Egypt, 
which  was  the  only  rival  power  that  was  able  to  compete 
with  Babylon  for  the  empire  of  the  world.  This  long  con- 
flict resulted  at  last  in  what  is  called  the  Babylonish  captiv- 
ity: Palestine  was  conquered  and  ravaged;  Jerusalem  was 
destroyed,  and  the  temple  built  by  Solomon  was  burned;  the 
people  who  survived  were  carried  away  into  a  grievous  cap- 
tivity. The  providential  cause  of  this  immeasurable  calamity 
was  the  obstinate  idolatry,  in  connection  with  great  moral 
corruption,  into  which  the  covenant  people  had  fallen  subse- 
quently to  the  reign  of  Solomon,  whose  pernicious  example 
in  the  latter  years  of  his  life  they  had  followed:  it  was  in 


THE  GREAT  ANTICHRISTIAN  WORLD-POWER         277 

chastisement  for  this  defection  that  they  were  uprooted  out 
of  their  own  holy  land,  and  transplanted  to  a  heathen  soil, 
where,  from  the  grossness  of  their  idolatries  and  immorali- 
ties, they  now  properly  belonged.  For  they  had  often  been 
forewarned  of  this  impending  judgment,  and  even  of  the 
time,  seventy  j^ears,  during  which  their  captivity  should  con- 
tinue (Jer.  xxix.  10),  but  neither  this  nor  anything  else  could 
restrain  their  idolatrous  and  immoral  proclivities.  Humanly 
speaking,  indeed,  it  could  hardly  have  been  anticipated  that 
this  transplanting  to  a  heathen  soil  would  have  had  any  such 
purifying  consequences;  yet  it  had,  for  in  their  captivity 
they  were  often  compelled  to  worship  the  idols  and  false 
gods  of  their  loathed  masters,  and  were  grievously  tormented 
when  they  refused.  On  some  of  the  tablets  recovered  from: 
the  mounds  of  Mesopotamia  we  have  heart-rending  pictures 
of  Hebrews,  recognized  as  such  by  their  strongly-marked 
national  features,  suffering  these  torments,  among  which 
that  of  being  flayed  alive  appears  to  have  been  not  uncom- 
mon. This  effectually  cured  them  of  their  idolatrous  itch;- 
for  never  since,  it  is  said,  has  a  Jew  been  known  to  worship 
an  idol,  or  any  other  but  the  God  of  Israel.  Yet  the  heathen 
were  by  no  means  justified  in  the  infliction  of  this  great 
national  judgment.  On  the  contrary,  Babylon  thereby 
brought  the  judgment  of  God  and  ruin  upon  herself,  which 
is  fully  represented  by  the  prophets: 

Woe  to  Assur,  the  rod  of  mine  ang-er, 

The  staff  in  whose  hand  is  mine  indignation  ! 

1  will  send  him  against  a  profane  nation, 

And  against  the  people  of  my  wrath  will  I  give  him  a  charge, 

To  take  the  spoil,  and  to  take  the  prey, 

And  to  tread  them  down  like  the  mire  of  the  streets. 

Howbeit  he  meaneth  not  so, 

Neither  doth  his  heart  think  so  .  .  . 

Wherefore,  it  sliall  come  to  pass, 

That,  when  the  Lord  hath  performed  His  whole  work  upon  Mt.  Zion  and  upon 

Jerusalem, 
I  will  punish  the  fruit  of  the  stout  heart  of  the  king  of  Assyria, 
And  the  glory  of  his  high  looks. 
For  he  hath  said. 

By  the  strength  of  my  hand  have  I  done  it, 
And  by  my  wisdom,  for  I  am  prudent.  .  .  . 


2/8  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

And  my  hand  hath  found  as  a  nest  the  riches  of  the  peoples  ; 

And,  as  one  gathereth  eggs  that  are  forsaken, 

Have  I  gathered  all  the  earth  ; 

And  there  was  none  that  moved  the  wing. 

Or  opened  the  mouth,  or  chirped  (Is.  x.  5-14). 

For  when  nations  or  individuals  are  thus  ravaged,  although 
they  may  suffer  a  just  punishment,  yet  God  will  not  fail  in 
due  time  to  punish  the  ravager. 

From  all  this  we  can  easily  understand  how  it  came  to 
pass  that  Babylon  was  regarded  by  the  ancient  people  of 
God  as  the  great  world-power  which  stood  in  irreconcilable 
hostility  to  the  Lord  and  His  kingdom.  Hence  their  pro- 
phetic writings  are  loaded  with  denunciations  of  the  wrath 
of  God  against  her,  and  of  her  utter  destruction.  Some  of 
these  have  been  given,  others  are  as  follows  : 

And  Babylon,  the  glory  of  kingdoms, 

The  beauty  of  the  Chaldean's  pride. 

Shall  be  as  when  God  overthrew  Sodom  and  Gomorrah. 

It  shall  never  be  inhabited. 

Neither  shall  it  be  dwelt  in  from  generation  to  generation  : 

Neither  shall  the  Arabian  pitch  tent  there, 

Neither  shall  shepherds  fold  their  flocks  there  : 

But  wild  beasts  of  the  desert  shall  lie  there  ; 

And  their  houses  shall  be  full  of  doleful  creatures  ; 

And  ostriches  shall  dwell  there. 

And  satyrs  shall  dance  there. 

And  howling  creatures  shall  cry  in  their  castles, 

And  jackals  in  the  pleasant  palaces  (Is.  xiii.  19-22). 

And  Babylon  shall  become  heaps  [mounds]  (Jer.  li.  37). 

These  are  only  examples  of  whole  pages  of  prophecies, 
which  were  delivered  and  recorded  when  Babylon  was  at  the 
height  of  her  prosperity  and  glory:  and  how  they  have  been 
fulfilled  to  the  letter  is  known  to  all  men;  for  her  former  site 
is  nothing  now  but  mounds,  formed  by  the  crumbling  and 
falling-in  of  her  enormous  buildings  of  sun-dried  brick,  and 
the  gathering  of  the  dust  of  ages  from  the  desert;  the  sur- 
rounding country  is  a  desolation,  which  the  wandering  Arab 
is  afraid  to  approach,  because  he  regards  it  as  haunted 
ground.  And  they  had  been  thus  fulfilled  centuries  before 
the  visions  of  the  Apocalypse  were  received  :  consequently. 


THE  GREAT  ANTICHRISTIAN  WORLD-POWER  279 

as  the  prophecy  of  this  vision  necessarily  refers  to  what  was 
then  in  the  future,  it  cannot  be  understood  of  the  literal  Baby- 
lon, but  must  be  interpreted  according  to  the  symbolical 
character  of  the  book,  as  foreshadowing  the  overthrow  of  the 
great  antichristian  world-power  which,  through  all  the  ages, 
has  stood  in  hostile  relations  to  the  church  and  kingdom  of 
God  analogous  to  those  which  the  city  and  empire  of  Baby- 
lon bore  to  Palestine  and  Israel.  Thus  we  see  that  Babylon 
in  this  and  subsequent  visions  is  identical,  as  has  been  said 
with  *  the  great  city  which  spiritually  is  called  Sodom  and 
Egypt'  (221):  and  one  reason  for  these  various  names  doubt- 
less is  to  emphasize  their  symbolical  character  and  meaning. 
For  in  all  these  places  the  Lord's  people  fell  into  captivity 
and  bondage  to  the  world  :  in  Sodom,  for  when  Lot  separa- 
ted from  Abraham,  and  chose  as  his  dwelling-place  the  cor- 
rupt cities  of  the  plain,  it  was  from  worldly  motives,  on 
account  of  the  fertility  of  the  country;  and  hence  all  his 
posterity  were  destroyed  in  their  overthrow,  or  subsequently 
identified  with  the  heathen  world  :  in  Egypt,  for  there  the 
covenant  people  were  subjected  to  a  long  and  cruel  bondage, 
which  is  one  of  the  most  significant  Old  Testament  types  of 
the  subjection  of  the  church  to  the  world  :  but  the  grandest 
of  these  types  is  that  of  the  Babylonish  captivity;  and  hence 
Babylon  is  the  symbolical  name  for  this  great  antichristian 
world-power  which  in  these  visions  predominates  over  all 
others. 

The  absolute  certainty  of  the  destruction  of  this  antichris- 
tian power  is  expressed  in  the  prophetic  past  tense,  the  force 
of  which  is,  that  what  is  predicted  is  as  certain  as  if  it  had 
already  taken  place  ;  and  this  is  still  further  emphasized  by 
repetition  :  "  Fallen,  fallen  is  Babylon  the  great."  The  rea- 
son given  for  her  destruction  is,  that  '  she  has  made  all  the 
nations  to  drink  of  the  wine  of  the  rage  of  her  fornication.' 
For  the  spirit  of  worldliness  is  the  prevailing  form  of  corrup- 
tion in  mankind.  This  is  the  *  covetousness  which  is  idola- 
trv  '  (Col.  iii.  5);  and  this  earthly  greed  is  here  represented 
under  the  loathsome  image  of  fornication  into  which  Baby- 
lon has  drawn  all  the  nations.     Other  great  world  cities  are 


28o  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

similarly  characterized,  as  in  the  following  passage  concern- 
ing Nineveh  :  "  Woe  to  the  bloody  city.  .  .  .  Because  of 
the  multitude  of  the  harlotries  of  the  well  favored  harlot,  the 
mistress  of  witchcrafts,  that  selleth  nations  through  her  har- 
lotries "  (Nahum  iii.  1-4)  ;  and  the  following  concerning  Tyre  : 
"  She  will  return  to  her  hire,  and  will  play  the  harlot  with 
all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  '  (Is.  xxiii.  17).  The  idea  is, 
that  the  world-power  seduces  mankind  into  luxury,  idolatry, 
and  impurity.  This  moral  corruption,  moreover,  becomes 
a  '  rage,'  or  form  of  insanity,  which  corrupts  the  faculties  of 
the  mind  and  soul,  and  renders  filthy  all  sacred  things,  as 
excess  of  wine  deprives  men  of  reason,  and  sexual  impurity 
defiles  their  spiritual  nature.  In  these  forms  of  expression 
also  there  is  a  plain  allusion  to  the  following  : 

Babylon  hath  been  a  g-olden  cup  in  the  Lord's  hand, 
That  made  all  the  nations  drunken  : 
The  nations  have  dnink  of  her  wine, 
Therefore  the  nations  are  mad  (Jer.  11.  7). 

But  these  images  of  fornication  and  harlotry  have  their  deep- 
est significance  in  application  to  the  church  when  she  be- 
comes corrupted  by  the  world  ;  when  she  falls  into  the  idol- 
atry of  earthly  and  perishable  things,  and  governs  her  life 
b)'  worldly  wisdom  rather  than  by  the  wisdom  of  God.  Then 
it  is  that  she  drinks  of  the  wine  of  the  rage  of  spiritual  for- 
nication and  adultery  by  forsaking  her  celestial  Spouse,  and 
submitting  herself  to  the  embraces  of  the  world.  This  idea 
is  much  insisted  on  in  the  prophets,  and  in  order  to  give  it  a 
more  copious  development  in  connection  with  this  symbol, 
Babylon,  as  we  shall  see  in  a  subsequent  vision,  becomes  a 
harlot  woman,  decked  with  all  meretricious  ornam^ents,  and 
riding  upon  the  beast  of  antichristian  political  power. 

This  illicit  connection  always  brings  the  church  into  bond- 
age to  the  world,  as  now  we  see  in  the  general  conformity  of 
professed  Christians  to  its  customs  and  morality  and  in 
almost  their  whole  manner  of  life  :  in  their  fashions,  amuse- 
ments, and  extravagant  expenditure  ;  in  their  rage  for  the 
acquisition  of  worldly  wealth  ;  in  the  numerous  defalcations 
and  frauds  committed  by  church  members  ;   but  above  all. 


THE  GREAT  AN TICIIRIS7TAN  WORLD-POWER         281 

in  that  we  have  no  public  opinion  within  the  church  in- 
dependent of  and  superior  to  that  of  the  world  (68).  For 
surely  the  people  of  God,  whose  citizenship  is  in  heaven, 
ought  not  to  be  governed  by  the  opinions  of  '  the  world  that 
lieth  in  wickedness  '  (i  John  v.  19).  Surely  we,  as  Christians, 
ought  to  have  a  public  opinion  among  ourselves,  with  respect 
to  our  whole  manner  of  living,  independent  of  and  superior 
to  that  of  the  world  ;  by  which  the  feeble  ones  might  be 
supported,  guided,  and  comforted  in  the  life  to  which  we 
are  all  called  of  crucifixion  and  death  to  the  world,  and  of 
whole-hearted  consecration  to  the  service  and  glory  of  our 
Saviour.  Surely  the  morality  of  the  world  is  not  good 
enough  for  those  '  who  have  washed  their  robes,  and  made 
them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  '  (160).  The  prevailing 
rage  for  wealth  and  display  ought  surely  to  be  an  abomina- 
tion to  all  Christians,  as  it  must  be  in  the  sight  of  God  ;  nor 
can  it  be  right  that  the  sorrows  of  the  world  should  have 
such  power  as  they  often  have  to  crush  our  hearts.  For  the 
difference  between  the  church  and  the  world  in  these  respects 
is  often  so  slight  that  one  can  hardly  tell  them  apart.  In  all 
this  we  have  the  fruits  of  that  bondage  of  the  church  to  the 
world  which  was  typified  by  that  of  Lot  in  Sodom,  of  the 
covenant  people  in  Egypt,  and  by  their  captivity  in  Babylon. 
In  these  grand  historic  types,  moreover,  we  have  repre- 
sented the  fearful  loss  which  the  church  suffers  from  this 
bondage,  her  need  of  deliverance  from  it,  and  the  object  for 
which,  together  with  the  means  by  which,  she  is  finally  de- 
livered. For  Lot,  by  separating  himself  from  Abraham  to 
dwell  in  the  cities  of  the  plain,  alienated  his  posterity  from 
all  the  promises  and  blessings  of  the  covenant  people  ;  and 
in  the  destruction  of  Sodom,  he  lost  all  his  family  except 
two  of  his  daughters,  who  seem  to  have  become  so  corrupted 
that,  humanly  speaking,  it  would  have  been  better  if  they 
too  had  perished.  In  like  manner,  the  bondage  in  Egypt 
became  such  at  last  as  threatened  the  moral  and  spiritual 
ruin  of  the  Old  Testament  church,  and  even  her  utter  ex- 
tinction by  the  cutting  off  of  her  male  children  (Ex.  i.  22). 
The   great   lesson  of  this   type  is,  that  by  subjection  and 


282  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

conformity  of  the  church  to  the  world  she  loses  her  children  ; 
they  wander  away  from  her  communion,  and  become  identi- 
fied with  the  world,  as  we  see  in  thousands  of  instances. 
Indeed,  it  cannot  be  doubted  but  that,  if  she  had  kept  her 
children,  as  in  the  martyr  age,  when  it  was  as  certain  that  the 
children  of  Christians  would  be  Christians  as  that  the  chil- 
dren of  Jews  would  be  Jews,  her  numbers  would  by  this  time 
have  exceeded  that  of  all  other  religions.  But  the  loss  which 
the  church  suffers  by  this  bondage  is  most  fully  represented 
by  the  captivity  in  Babylon,  from  which  only  a  very  small 
remnant  ever  returned  ;  all  the  rest,  including  ten  out  of  the 
twelve  tribes,  having  been  swallowed  up  by  the  world,  so 
that  nothing  has  ever  been  heard  of  them  to  this  day.  And 
the  object  for  which  the  captives  were  at  length  delivered 
was,  that  they  might  devote  themselves  wholly  to  the  service 
of  God,  which  they  were  not  free  to  do  under  their  Egyptian 
and  Babylonish  masters  (Ex.  ix.  i).  Moreover,  in  all  these 
cases,  deliverance  came  at  last  by  the  most  fearful  judgments 
upon  the  world-powers  :  by  the  destruction  of  Sodom  ;  by 
the  plagues  upon  Egypt,  including  the  slaughter  of  the  first- 
born, and  the  overthrow  of  Pharaoh's  host  in  the  Red  Sea  ; 
by  the  capture  of  Babylon,  and  the  subversion  of  her  empire, 
when  it  passed  to  the  Medes  and  Persians  under  Cyrus  the 
great,  who  set  free  the  children  of  the  captivity.  And  thus, 
as  predicted  in  these  types  and  in  all  the  prophetic  Scriptures 
on  this  subject,  deliverance  from  subjection  and  bondage  to 
the  world  will  come  to  the  church  of  these  last  times  ;  i.  e. 
by  such  judgments  upon  the  world-power  as  are  typified  by 
the  destruction  of  Sodom,  the  Egyptian  plagues,  and  the 
overthrow  of  Babylon  ;  and  such  as  will  make  the  Lord's 
people  to  know  that  they  cannot  continue  to  identify  them- 
selves with  the  world,  nor  drink  of  the  maddening  cup  of  its 
fornication,  without  perishing  with  it.  Yet,  for  those  who 
are  the  true  people  of  God,  this  deliverance  is  sure  to  come 
at  last ;  for  the  assurance  of  it  is  given  by  this  angel  flying 
in  midheaven,  and  proclaiming  with  his  great  voice,  '  Fallen, 
fallen  is  Babylon  the  Great,'  and  in  the  subsequent  visions, 
where  her  overthrow  and  utter  destruction  are  particularly 


THE  GREAT  ANTICHRISTIAN  WORLD-POWER  283 

described,  and  where  the  church  comes  forth  out  of  her,  as 
the  free  and  honored  '  wife  of  the  Lamb  '  (Rev.  xviii.  4),  as 
'a  bride  adorned  for  her  husband  '  (xxi.  10), 

But  surely  this  deliverance  will  not  come  until  the  church 
shall  be  made  to  know  that  she  is  in  bondage,  and  to  feel  it 
as  an  intolerable  burden,  and  groan  under  it,  and  cry  mightily 
unto  God  for  His  interposition  and  the  outstretching  of  His 
almighty  arm  in  her  behalf.  For  Lot  could  not  be  delivered 
from  Sodom  until  he  was  *  sore  distressed  by  the  lascivious 
life  of  the  wicked;  for  that  righteous  man,  dwelling  among 
xthem,  in  seeing  and  hearing,  tormented  his  righteous  soul 
from  day  to  day  with  their  lawless  deeds'  (2  Pet.  ii.  7-8); 
then  the  angel  of  the  Lord  came  down,  and  drew  him  out 
of  the  city  from  its  impending  destruction.  So,  also,  there 
was  no  deliverance  from  the  bondage  in  Egypt,  until  the 
people  had  come  to  feel  that  it  was  intolerable,  and  cried 
unto  God  for  His  interposition,  when  His  plagues  fell  upon 
their  oppressors,  and  set  them  free.  In  like  manner,  the 
exiles  in  Babylon  could  not  return  to  rebuild  their  holy  city 
and  temple,  until  their  captivity  had  become  so  grievous  as 
to  render  abominable  to  their  souls  the  idolatry  which  had 
brought  it  upon  them.  Hence  the  overthrow  of  this  great 
antichristian  world-power,  of  which  Sodom  and  Egypt  and 
Babylon  are  the  apocalyptic  symbols,  and  which  now  domi- 
nates in  the  church,  is  not  to  be  expected,  until  she  shall 
come  to  groan  under  her  bondage,  and  cry  day  and  night 
unto  God  for  deliverance,  having  attained  to  some  adequate 
appreciation  of  the  apostle's  warning:  ''  If  any  man  love  the 
world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him  "  (i  John  ii.  15). 
For  in  the  judgment  of  charity,  what  multitudes  of  pro- 
fessed Christians  must  these  words  exclude  !  But  when  their 
full  meaning  shall  come  to  be  realized;  when  this  judgment 
upon  Babylon  shall  be  executed;  then  Lot  will  flee  out  of 
Sodom,  nor  be  tempted  afterwards  to  drink  of  the  wine  of 
incest  with  his  own  daughters;  then  the  Israel  of  God  will 
go  forth  out  of  Egypt,  not  to  set  up  golden  calves,  but  to  de- 
vote themselves  wholly  to  his  service;  then  the  exiles  in 
Babylon  will  return  to  rebuild  their  holy  city  and  temple, 
which  will  never  more  be  profaned  by  the  idolatry  of  the  world. 


XXXIII 

PRE-ANNOUNCEMENT  OF  JUDGMENT  UPON  THE  WORSHIP- 
PERS OF  THE  BEAST  UPON  THE  CHURCH  CORRUPT- 
ED  BY   THE   WORLD      XIV  g-I2 

This  terrible  vision  has  a  close  connection  with  the  preced- 
ing, and  a  still  closer  one  with  that  in  which  antichristian 
ecclesiastical  power  is  symbolized  as  the  beast  out  of  the 
earth  (252):  for  its  main  object  is  to  show  that  the  worship- 
pers of  that  beast,  and  of  the  image  which  it  causes  to  be  set 
up  in  the  likeness  of  the  former  one  (254),  i.  e.  those  in  the 
church  who  have  been  fatally  corrupted  by  the  world,  do 
perish  with  it.  Hence  the  vision  includes,  though  in  a  sub- 
ordinate manner,  the  judgment  and  punishment  of  the 
ungodly  world. 

9  And  another  angel,  a  third,  followed  them,  saying  with  a  great 
voice.  If  any  man  worship  the  beast  and  his  image,  and  receive  [the] 
mark  on  his  forehead,  or  on  his  hand,  10  he  also  shall  drink  of  the 
wine  of  the  -wrath  of  God,  w^hich  is  mingled  strong  in  the  cup  of  His 
indignation,  and  he  shall  be  tormented  with  fire  and  brimstone  before 
the  holy  angels  and  before  the  Lamb  :  11  and  the  smoke  of  their  tor- 
ment goeth  up  forever  and  ever ;  and  they  have  no  rest  by  day  or  by 
night  w^ho  worship  the  beast  and  his  image,  and  w^hosoever  receiveth 
the  mark  of  his  nam?.  12  Here  is  the  patience  of  the  saints,  who 
keep  the  commandments  of  God  and  the  faith  of  Jesus. 

This  angel  is  a  'third'  with  reference  to  the  two  that 
have  preceded  him  in  his  flight  through  midheaven,  i.  e, 
the  angel  of  the  everlasting  gospel  (267),  and  the  one  that 
has  announced  the  fall  of  Babylon  (274).  His  great  voice 
has  the  same  significance.  This  beast  is  the  one  that  rep- 
resents antichris::an  ecclesiastical  power,  or  the  church 
(284) 


THE  CHURCH  CORRUPTED  BY  THE    WORLD  285 

fatally  corrupted  by  the  world,  as  is  evident  from  the  men- 
tion of  his  mark  and  his  image  (255),  i.  e.  the  image  which 
he  causes  to  be  set  up  to  the  former  beast  (254).  Conse- 
quently those  designated  as  his  worshippers  are  primarily 
those  who  are  connected  with  the  church.  But  that  there  is 
here  also  a  secondary  reference  to  the  ungodly  world  ap- 
pears from  the  following  considerations  :  (i)  From  the 
words,  *  he  also  shall  drink,'  where  '  also  '  may  be  taken  in 
the  sense,  together  with  Babylon  in  the  preceding  vision 
(274):  (2)  'All  that  dwell  upon  the  earth,'  except  the  true 
people  of  God,  are  caused  to  worship  the  former  beast,  and 
the  image  of  him  (254)  which  this  one  sets  up:  (3)  The 
authority  which  causes  men  to  worship  him  is  originally  that 
of  Satan,  who  is  worshipped  by  all  the  earth,  with  the  same 
exception  (247).  Thus  we  have  a  synthesis,  as  it  were,  of  the 
dragon  and  the  beast  out  of  the  sea  with  this  one  out  of  the 
earth,  and  consequently  his  worshippers,  though  primarily 
church  members,  must  include  also  the  ungodly  world  ;  and 
this  view  is  confirmed  by  the  nature  of  their  punishment, 
which  is  in  no  wise  peculiar  to  worldlings  in  the  church. 

This  dread  punishment,  as  proclaimed  by  the  angel  in  his 
flight  through  midheaven,  is  intended  to  awaken  the  most 
solemn  attention  of  all  mankind.  The  utmost  powers  of 
human  language  are  taxed  to  express  its  severity.  For  the 
words  which  I  have  rendered  'mingled  strong'  are  literally 
*  mingled  unmixed,'  in  allusion  to  wine  unmixed  with  water 
and  mingled  with  drugs  to  increase  its  intoxicating  strength. 
Similar  expressions  concerning  *the  wine  of  the  wrath  of 
God  '  are  frequent  in  the  prophets,  of  which  the  following  is 
an  example:  "For  thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel, 
unto  me: 

Take  the  cup  of  the  wine  of  this  fury  at  my  hand, 

And  cause  all  the  nations  to  whom  I  send  thee  to  drink  it : 

And  they  shall  drink  and  reel  to  and  fro  and  be  mad, 

Because  of  the  sword  that  I  will  send  among  them  "  (Jer.  xxv.  15-16). 

Doubtless  they  are  all  highly  figurative,  yet  this  does  by  no 
means  detract  from  their  significance  or  force,  but,  on  the 
contrary,   greatly  increases    it.     For   figures  of   speech  are 


286  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

mostly  resorted  to  where  literal  expressions  would  be  feeble 
and  inadequate:  and  the  intense  energy  of  such  figures  may 
be  evinced  by  the  following  from  a  great  master  of  lan- 
guage, where,  in  order  to  express  the  enormous  devastation 
wrought  by  the  northern  barbarians  in  southern  Europe,  he 
says,  'The  Goth-  ravened,'  thus,  by  one  word,  comparing  it 
to  that  of  an  army  of  lions,  or  other  beasts  of  prey,  let  loose 
upon  human  settlements.  Here,  then,  as  everywhere  else, 
the  wrath  and  indignation  of  God,  and  the  torment  of  fire 
and  brimstone,  are  figures  of  speech,  which  are  resorted  to 
because  no  literal  expressions  can  adequately  set  forth  the 
dread  reality:  and  the  questions  which  they  force  upon  every 
sincere  seeker  after  the  truth  are,  What  do  they  signify  ? 
What  impressions  are  they  intended  to  make  upon  our 
minds  ?  What  is  that  dread  reality  which  is  adequate  to 
justify  their  use  ?  Of  course,  the  wrath  and  indignation  of 
God  are  intended  to  express  with  the  utmost  possible  energy 
His  justice,  i.  e.  His  personal  opposition  to,  and  abhorrence 
of  all  sin  and  wrong,  and  His  unalterable  determination  to 
punish  them,  where  they  are  found  incorrigible,  as  they  de- 
serve :  that  which  is  as  much  more  to  be  feared  than  the 
rage  of  a  man  as  God's  omnipotence  exceeds  human  power. 
It  is  further  compared  to  undiluted  and  drugged  wine,  to 
denote  that  it  is  to  be  executed  upon  the  objects  of  it  with 
the  utmost  severity,  or  severity  untempered  with  mercy;  and 
the  effects  of  such  wine  are  taken  to  represent  that  derange- 
ment of  the  faculties  of  the  soul  which  this  maddening  tor- 
ment produces.  To  all  this  are  added  the  images  of  fire  and 
brimstone;  and  can  these  be  reasonably  understood  to  sig- 
nify anything  less  than  a  torment  of  inconceivable  severity, 
as  intolerable  to  the  immortal  soul  as  these  substances  would 
be  to  the  body  ?  Otherwise  would  not  these  images,  both 
here  and  as  employed  by  our  Lord  in  the  Gospels  (Mat.  xxv. 
41),  be  altogether  unjustifiable?  This  punishment,  more- 
over, is  to  be  inflicted  'before  the  holy  angels  and  before 
the  Lamb ';  which  signifies  that  they,  however  much  they 
may  deplore  and  lament  over  it,  as  the  Lord  wept  over  Jeru- 
salem, do  yet  approve  of  it  as  most  just  and  necessary. 


THE  CHURCH  CORRUPTED  BY  THE   WORLD 


287 


But,  as  if  all  this  were  not  enough,  and  as  if  in  answer  to 
such  agonizing  questions  as  the  following:  Does  this  punish- 
ment imply  a  state  of  self-conscious  torment?  How  long 
will  it  continue  ?  May  we  not  hope  that  at  some  time  it  will 
come  to  an  end,  either  by  the  restoration  or  annihilation  of 
the  lost?  we  have  these  points  set  in  the  clearest  light:  (i) 
For  here  it  is  unmistakably  represented  as  a  state  of  self- 
conscious  torment  by  the  words,  '  they  have  no  rest  by  day 
or  by  night';  and  this  is  confirmed  by  our  Lord's  declara- 
tion, seven  times  repeated  in  the  Gospels,  and,  no  doubt, 
with  the  full  symbolical  significance  of  this  mystical  number 
(14):  ''There  shall  be  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth  "  (Mat. 
xiii.  42);  also,  by  His  showing  us  a  soul  in  hell,  and  causing 
us  to  hear  his  voice  crying  out,  '  I  am  tormented  in  this 
flame'  (Luke  xvi.  19-31),  and  pleading  for  a  drop  of  water 
to  cool  his  tongue.  (2)  As  to  the  duration  of  this  punish- 
ment, it  is  to  continue  'forever  and  ever,'  words  which  are 
frequently  used  in  this  book  to  signify  the  time  during  which 
God  will  possess  power  and  glory  (16),  and  even  the  length 
of  His  life  (115).  In  like  manner,  our  Lord  calls  it  an  'ever- 
lasting '  or  'eternal  punishment.'  We  need  not,  however,  lay 
any  particular  stress  upon  these  or  any  other  single  expres- 
sions, which,  of  course,  have  different  meanings  in  different 
connections;  for  that  this  punishment  will  never  come  to  an 
end  rests  chiefly  on  other  evidence,  some  of  which  may  be 
stated  as  follows:  In  all  that  our  Lord  says  upon  the  subject, 
and  He  says  a  good  deal,  there  is  not  a  single  word  that  can 
be  fairly  understood  as  intended  to  give  us  one  ray  of  hope 
for  the  lost ;  certainly  not  the  faintest  intimation  that  they 
can  ever  be  restored  to  holiness  or  happiness.  In  a  late  con- 
versation with  an  eminent  clergyman,  who  was  trying  to 
comfort  himself  concerning  them,  I  called  his  attention  to 
this  fact,  which  he  frankly  admitted;  and  I  added,  If  your 
Lord  does  not  give  you  any  hope  for  them.  He  does  not  in- 
tend you  to  have  any;  to  which  my  friend  seemed  finally  to 
give  his  assent.  (3)  The  question  concerning  the  annihilation 
of  the  lost  is  sufficiently  ansv/ered  in  the  preceding  state- 
ments, to  which,  however,  it  may  be  added,  that  it  is  incon- 


283  WISDOM  GF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

sistent,  of  course,  with  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  which 
gives  to  the  distinction  between  right  and  wrong  its  deepest 
significance  and  most  solemn  sanction,  and  thus  constitutes 
the  moral  strength  of  human  nature.  Hence,  if  words  be 
not  used  at  random  in  the  New  Testament,  nay,  be  it  rever- 
ently spoken,  with  intent  to  deceive,  the  condition  of  lost 
souls  must  be  understood  to  be  that  of  self-conscious  and 
hopeless  torment. 

But  some  may,  and  many  do  say,  This  is  too  horrible  for 
belief  ;  and  it  is  inconsistent  with  the  character  of  God, 
especially  with  His  infinite  compassion  and  tenderness  for 
sinners  as  revealed  in  Christ.  For  it  is  inconceivable  that 
He  who  gave  His  only  begotten  Son  to  die  for  us  all,  and 
that  while  we  were  in  rebellion  against  Him,  should  consign 
any  of  us  to  such  a  punishment  as  this.  Surely  those  revela- 
tions of  His  inmost  heart  which  come  to  us  through  our 
Lord  Jesus  must  be  understood  to  overrule,  or  set  aside,  or 
somehow  to  mitigate,  these  declarations  concerning  the  pun- 
ishment of  the  lost.  In  answer  to  all  such  objections  as 
these,  let  it  be  carefully  observed  that,  however  glad  we 
might  be  to  find  what  is  elsewhere  declared  on  this  subject 
mitigated,  or  even  superseded,  by  the  Lord's  own  words,  the 
fact  is,  as  we  have  just  seen,  that  He  himself  reiterates  over 
and  over  again  the  strongest  declarations  of  the  severity  and 
hopelessness  of  the  future  punishment  that  are  to  be  found 
anywhere  in  the  whole  Scripture.  Such,  in  addition  to  those 
that  have  been  given,  are  the  following:  "  Be  not  afraid  of 
them  that  kill  the  body,  but  are  not  able  to  kill  the  soul;  but 
rather  fear  Him  who  is  able  to  destroy  both  soul  and 
body  in  hell  (Mat.  x.  28).  Yea,  I  say  unto  you,  fear  Him 
(Luke  xii.  4-5).  When  the  Son  of  Man  shall  come  in 
His  glory  ....  then  will  He  say  unto  them  on  His  left 
hand,  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire, 
which  is  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels  (Mat. 
XXV.  31-41).  And  these  shall  go  away  into  everlasting 
punishment  (xxv.  46).  In  the  end  of  the  world,  the  angels 
shall  come  forth,  and  shall  sever  the  wicked  from  among  the 
righteous,  and  shall  cast  them  into  the  furnace  of  fire:  there 
shall  be  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth  "  (xii.  49-50).     Now 


THE  CHURCH  CORRUPTED  BY  THE    WORLD  289 

we  know  nothing  of  the  compassion  or  character  of  God  be- 
yond what  Christ  has  revealed,  and  all  such  revelations  must 
be  understood  in  harmony  with  these  His  own  declarations. 
Moreover,  if  we  believe  in   Him,  we  must  believe  what  He 
tells  us  explicitly  on  this  subject,  no  less  than  on  all  others. 
It  is  insane  folly  to  select  out  of  His  teachings  what  may 
chance  to  please  us,  and  reject,  or  explain  away,  whatever  we 
would  gladly  have  otherwise.    This  is  not  to  believe  in  Him, 
but  to  mock  Him.     The  question  for  us  is  not,  whether  this, 
or   anything   else,    be    a   pleasing   or  painful   doctrine,  not 
whether  it  be  probable  or  improbable  to  our  minds,  but  sim- 
ply, whether  He  teaches  it,  or  not.     If  He  teaches  it,  we 
must  believe  it;  we  cannot  reject  it  without  giving  up  our 
faith  in   Him.     Consequently  it  is  worse  than  in  vain  for  us 
to  say  that  humanity  recoils  from  this  doctrine,  for  this  is  to 
claim  for  ourselves  more  humanity  than  He  had.    Humanity 
recoils  at  His  crucifixion,  and  at  a  thousand  other  facts  and 
truths  which  we  would  gladly  have  otherwise.    If  He  teaches 
this  doctrine,  then  it  is  true  and  most  just  and  humane  and 
necessary  to  be  believed.    For  aught  that  we  can  tell,  it  may 
be  necessary  to  the  awakening,  confirmation,  and  purifica- 
tion of  His  elect  people  (78),  and  for  the  restraint  of  crime 
upon  earth,  so  that  it  should  be  habitable.     Who  can   tell 
how  many  souls  it  has  awakened,  and  driven  to  seek  refuge  in 
Christ,  where  only  refuge  can  be  found,  from  this  tempestof 
fire  and  brimstone  which  is  to  come  upon  the  ungodly  world. 
The  great  St.  Augustine  himself  informs  us,  that  it  was  the 
fear  of  future  punishment  which  first  brought  him  to  convic- 
■  tion  of  the  enormity  of  his  sins.    For  that  sin,  as  it  is  viewed 
by  God  and  the  Lamb  and  the  holy  angels,  merits  and  is  justly 
punished  with  such  awful  severity,  reveals  its  enormity  more 
impressively  than  were  otherwise  possible.     Apart  from  this 
revelation  it  may  be  that  no  human  soul  would  ever  be  saved: 
and  it  may  be  equally  necessary  to  the  final  confirmation  of 
the  saints,  so  that  they  shall  never  fall  away  from  their  heav- 
enly state,  as  so  many  of  the  angels  fell  in  Satan's  rebellion. 

The  closing  words  of  the  vision,  'Here  is  the  patience  of 
the  saints,  who  keep  the  commandments  of  God  and  the 
13 


290  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

faith  of  Jesus  '  (250),  may  be  understood  as  an  admonition 
to  the  people  of  God,  (i)  that  they  are  to  exercise  patient 
endurance  under  the  trials  of  faith  which  are  inseparable 
from  this  doctrine,  and  from  such  execution  of  the  divine 
justice;  (2)  that  the  only  way  in  which  they  themselves  can 
be  saved  is  by  persistently  keeping  the  commandments  of 
God,  and  what  Christ  teaches  upon  this  subject,  as  upon  all 
others.  And  this  admonition  is  at  least  as  necessary  for  us 
as  it  was  for  the  primitive  Christians.  We,  therefore,  are  to 
give  no  heed  to  those  immoral  speculations  which  are  now 
so  rife,  by  which  errorists  would  persuade  us  that  we  have 
little  to  fear  from  the  justice  of  God,  whether  we  keep  His 
commandments  and  the  true  faith,  or  not.  We  are  to  put 
our  whole  trust  for  our  knowledge  of  the  truth  upon  this 
subject,  as  upon  all  others  pertaining  to  God  and  the  spiritual 
world,  in  the  teaching  and  authority  of  Christ.  We  must 
not  allow  ourselves  to  be  beguiled  by  the  subtle  conceits  of 
man's  wisdom,  howsoever  disguised  under  pretensions  to 
vindicate  the  character  of  God,  for  He  is  not  incompetent 
to  vindicate  His  own  character;  but  we  are  steadfastly  to  be- 
lieve that  whatsoever  the  Lord  teaches  is  the  truth  of  God  ; 
that  all  things  are  as  He  represents  them;  especially  that 
justice  is  no  less  essential  to  God's  character  than  love  itself; 
and  that  what  His  justice  requires  in  the  punishment  of  sin 
can  be  learned  only  from  Himself.  For  thus  only  can  we 
ourselves  be  saved;  and  thus  only  can  we  be  animated  to 
labor  and  pray  and  make  sacrifice,  as  Christ  and  His  apostles 
did,  for  the  salvation  of  those  who  are  hastening  down  to 
hell  fast  as  the  moments  fly.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  there  is 
a  great  falling  away  in  the  church  of  the  present  da}^  from 
this  truth  of  the  faith  of  Jesus,  that  the  unsaved  do  'go 
away  into  everlasting  punishment';  for  this  would  go  far  to 
explain  the  feebleness  of  our  efforts  to  save  them,  and  the 
superficial  piety  and  worldliness  in  the  church  which  are  now 
so  common.  For  the  burden  of  souls  does  not  seem  to  lie 
upon  our  hearts,  as  it  did  upon  the  hearts  of  Christ  and  of 
Paul  and  of  the  first  disciples,  and  as  it  must  do  in  order  to 
anything  worthy  of  the  name  of  sacrifice  to  save  them. 
Hence  they  perish  in  their  sins  through  our  unbelief. 


XXXIV 

A   VOICE   FROM   HEAVEN   ANNOUNCING    THE    BLESSED    ES- 
TATE  OF   THE   PIOUS   DEAD      XIV  1 3 

This  revelation  seems  to  have  been  given  for  the  purpose 
of  counteracting  certain  deleterious  errors  which  it  was  fore- 
seen would  extensively  prevail  in  the  church,  particularly 
errors  with  respect  to  the  state  of  the  pious  dead,  in  order 
that  the  true  people  of  God  might  be  put  on  their  guard 
against  them.  It  also  has  a  close  connection,  as  we  shall  see, 
with  the  preceding  vision. 

13  And  I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven  saying,  Write :  Blessed  are 
the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord  from  henceforth;  yea,  saith  the  Spirit, 
that  they  may  rest  from  their  labors,  for  their  works  do  follow  them. 

This  voice,  as  we  are  expressly  informed,  is  that  of  '  the 
Spirit';  and  I  think  this  is  the  only  place  in  the  whole  Scrip- 
ture where  He,  in  distinction  from  the  other  Persons  of  the 
Holy  Trinity,  is  heard  to  speak  in  an  audible  voice  from 
heaven.  Here,  therefore,  we  have  the  clearest  and  most  ex- 
plicit revelation  of  His  distinct  personality.  The  reason 
why  He  thus  speaks  here  probably  is,  that  He,  as  the  sancti- 
fier  and  heavenly  comforter  of  the  Lord's  people,  and  as 
abiding  in  them  in  vital  union,  is,  in  some  sort,  a  partaker  of 
their  life,  and  is  experimentall}^  acquainted  with  the  blessed- 
ness with  which  He  fills  their  souls.  This  blessedness  con- 
sists partly  in  that  'they  rest  from  their  labors,'  from  all 
their  laborious  service,  and  all  their  earthly  trials  and  sor- 
rows; and  partly  in  that  'their  works,'  those  that  they  have 
done  in  the  former  life  through  the  Spirit  'working  in  them 
both  to  will  and  to  do'  (Phil.  ii.  13),  do  'follow  them'  into 

(291) 


292 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


the  eternal  world,  as  imperishable  riches,  'a  treasure  laid  up 
in  heaven,  where  neither  moth  nor  rust  doth  corrupt,  and 
where  thieves  do  not  break  through  nor  steal '  (Mat.  vi.  20). 
The  meaning  of  the  word  anapri,  'from  henceforth,'  is  not 
plain.  If  this  rendering  be  retained,  it  may  be  understood 
in  the  sense,  from  the  time  when  the  pious  depart  out  of  this 
life,  i.  e.  their  blessedness  commences  immediately.  In  view 
of  the  acknowledged  difficulty,  however,  I  venture  to  sug- 
gest another  translation;  for  in  classical  Greek  this  word  has 
only  three  meanings:  the  first  is  'completely,'  the  second 
'wholly,'  which  is  hardly  another;  and  all  its  derivatives  and 
compounds  contain  the  idea  of  completeness  or  perfection. 
The  last  meaning  of  all  is  that  of  its  etymology,  '  from  now,' 
or  'henceforth.'  If  we  take  it  here  in  its  primary  sense, 
which  is  commonly  to  be  preferred  where  the  connection 
will  bear  it,  we  shall  have  the  rendering,  '  Blessed  are  the 
dead  who  die  in  the  Lord  perfectly';  the  last  word  being 
connected  with  'Blessed,'  and  so  placed  for  emphasis,  that  it 
may  linger  upon  the  ear.  It  must  be  admitted,  however, 
that  this  is  not  commonly,  if  it  all,  the  New  Testament 
meaning  of  the  word. 

In  order  now  to  understand  the  object  of  this  declaration 
from  heaven  concerning  the  blessedness  of  the  pious  dead, 
we  must  recall  the  last  vision,  that  of  judgment  upon  those 
in  the  church  who  have  become  fatally  corrupted  by  the 
world,  especially  its  closing  admonition  to  the  saints,  that 
they  patiently  '  keep  the  commandments  of  God  and  the 
faith  of  Jesus.'  For  it  is  quite  evident  that  even  true  Chris- 
tians in  this  life  do  very  imperfectly  keep  these  command- 
ments and  this  faith  (263);  often  they  die  in  a  state  of  very 
imperfect  faith  and  sanctification.  Hence  the  question 
naturally  arises  in  every  mind.  What  becomes  of  them  im- 
mediately after  they  have  departed  out  of  this  life?  Do 
they  remain  for  a  time  imperfectly  saved,  undergoing  further 
purification,  before  they  enter  into  the  crowning  reward  of 
perfect  beatitude  ?  In  other  words,  is  there  a  purgatory  for 
those  who  die  in  the  Lord,  where  they  remain  for  a  time, 
until  they  are  purified  from  all  their  sins  ?     And  this  ques- 


BLESSED  ESTATE  OF  THE  PIOUS  DEAD  293 

tion  is  closely  connected  with  another,  which  is  now  coming 
to  be  agitated  in  the  bosom  of  the  Protestant  Church  :  Is 
there  a  future  state  of  probation  for  those  who  die  in  their 
sins,  especially  for  those  who  in  this  life  have  never  heard  of 
Christ?  It  seems  to  have  been  in  foresight  of  the  former 
question  more  particularly,  and  of  the  many  immoral  errors 
connected  with  it,  that  this  voice  of  the  Spirit  came  from 
heaven,  giving  solemn  assurance  that  there  is  no  such  future 
state  of  imperfect  sanctification  and  imperfect  beatitude,  and 
that  they  who  die  in  the  Lord  are  perfectly  blessed,  and  con- 
sequently are  without  sin,  as  soon  as  they  leave  this  world. 
And  this  assurance  is  given  by  the  Spirit  because  He  is  the 
efficient  agent  in  their  sanctification. 

The  great  error  which  is  opposed  to  this  blessed  truth, 
that  '  the  souls  of  believers  are  at  their  death  made  perfect 
in  holiness  and  do  immediately  pass  into  glory,'  has  had  a 
vast  range  and  a  most  pernicious  influence.  It  is  strenuously 
maintained  to  this  day  by  the  church  of  papal  Rome  in  her 
doctrine  of  Purgatory,  and  is  generally  believed  throughout 
her  whole  communion.  She,  however,  does  not  much  rely 
upon  Scripture  to  support  it,  but  claims  that  it  has  come 
down  by  unbroken  tradition  from  the  apostles,  and  that  it  is 
thereb)^,  and  by  her  own  infallible  authority,  sufficiently 
established.  It  is  mostly  when  arguing  with  Protestants 
that  Romanists  appeal  to  Scripture,  and  their  proof-texts  are 
now  adduced  by  others  in  support  of  the  kindred  error,  that 
there  will  be  a  future  state  of  probation  for  the  heathen  who 
in  this  life  have  never  heard  of  Christ,  and  for  all  who  have 
not  had  what  they  call  '  a  fair  chance '  in  the  matter  of  their 
salvation.  These  texts  are  the  following:  "Christ  also  suf- 
fered for  sins  .  .  .  being  put  to  death  in  the  flesh,  but  quick- 
ened in  the  Spirit;  by  which  also  He  went  and  preached 
unto  the  spirits  in  prison,  which  aforetime  were  disobedient, 
when  the  longsuffering  of  God  waited  in  the  days  of  Noah, 
while  the  ark  was  a-preparing,  wherein  few,  that  is,  eight 
souls  were  saved  by  water  (i  Pet.  iii.  18-20).  For  unto  this 
end  was  the  gospel  preached  unto  the  dead,  that  they  might 
be  judged  according  to  men,  but  might  live  according  to 


294 


WISD03I  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


God  in  spirit  (iv,  6).  Whosoever  shall  speak  against  the 
Holy  Spirit,  it  shall  not  be  forgiven  him,  neither  in  this 
world,  nor  in  that  which  is  to  come  "  (Mat.  xii.  32).  Now  it 
may  be  conceded  that  these  passages,  if  the  word  of  God 
contained  nothing  else  upon  the  subject  of  the  future  pun- 
ishment, might  be  understood  in  the  sense  of  a  purgatory 
and  of  a  probationary  state  after  death.  But  it  is  well-nigh 
incredible  that  doctrines  of  such  vast  moral  significance 
should  have  been  left  to  be  gathered  from  these  three  ob- 
scure deliverances,  two  of  them  in  one  of  the  minor  Epistles; 
for  nowhere  else,  except  in  apocryphal  writings,  is  there  any- 
thing upon  which  they  can  be  founded.  Our  Lord  Himself 
makes  not  the  remotest  allusion  to  them,  that  is,  if  we  un- 
derstand what  He  says  about  '  the  sin  that  hath  never  for- 
giveness '  in  the  obvious  sense  of  a  merely  emphatic  declara- 
tion of  that  truth;  to  which  we  are  shut  up  by  the  fact,  that 
everywhere  else  He  speaks  of  lost  souls  as  being  in  an  un- 
changeable state,  as,  e.  g.  where  He  represents  such  a  soul 
praying  to  Abraham  that  its  condition  may  be  ameliorated, 
and  being  denied  in  the  words  of  Abraham:  "  Between  us 
and  you  there  is  a  great  gulf  fixed,  so  that  they  who  would 
pass  from  hence  to  you  cannot,  neither  can  they  pass  from 
thence  to  us  "  (Luke  xvi.  26).  And  as  for  a  purgatory  for  the 
imperfectly  sanctified,  He  comforts  the  dying  thief  on  the 
cross  by  assuring  him:  "This  day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in 
Paradise  "  (xxiii.  43),  From  these  and  similar  declarations, 
we  are  placed  under  a  rational  necessity  to  scrutinize  the 
two  remaining  texts,  to  see  whether  the)^  will  bear  any  other 
meaning  than  that  of  a  purgatory  and  a  future  probationary 
state.  I  remember  many  years  ago  to  have  commenced  such 
an  examination  under  a  strong  prepossession  against  the 
common  Protestant  interpretation,  but  before  I  had  com- 
pleted it,  I  became  thoroughly  convinced  that  it  was  the  true 
one.  It  is  as  follows:  Christ  was  raised  up  from  the  dead 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  which  Spirit,  in  the  time  of  Noah  and 
by  Noah's  mouth,  He  preached  to  them  who  were  then  diso- 
bedient, and  who  are  now  in  prison:  and  for  this  object  was 
the  gospel  preached  unto  them  who  are  now  dead,  that  they 


BLESSED  ESTATE  OF  THE  PIOUS  DEAD  295 

might  repent  and  be  saved;  and,  if  they  would  not,  as  they 
did  not,  that  they  might  be  judged  as  men  to  whom  the  gos- 
pel offer  of  salvation  had  been  made.  This  interpretation 
is  strongly  confirmed  by  the  following  considerations:  (i)  It 
is  given  by  a  great  number  of  the  best  scholars  and  com- 
mentators, among  whom  are  Leighton,  Scaliger,  Beza,  Aqui- 
nas, Bede,  and  St.  Augustine:  (2)  Noah  was  'a  preacher  of 
righteousness '  to  the  people  of  his  time,  as  we  are  expressly 
informed  by  St.  Peter  (2  Pet.  ii.  5),  in  one  of  whose  Epistles 
these  two  controverted  texts  are  found;  who,  therefore, 
could  not  mean,  that  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  to  the  ante- 
diluvians after  they  were  dead  was  necessary  in  order  that 
they  might  be  Judged  as  men  to  whom  the  offer  of  salvation; 
had  been  made,  for  it  had  been  made  to  them  while  they 
were  alive  in  the  preaching  of  Noah,  and  they  had  rejected' 
it:  (3)  In  the  same  connection,  he  speaks  of  them,  not  as 
being  in  a  state  of  probation  where  the  gospel  could  still  be 
preached  to  them,  but  as  'kept  under  punishment  unto  the 
day  of  judgment,'  precisely  as  he  speaks  of  the  lost  angels 
(ii.  4--9):  (4)  In  one  of  these  texts  it  is  said,  that  the  Lord 
preached  unto  them  *by  or  in  the  Spirit,'  which  expression  is 
not  appropriate  to  His  going  and  preaching  to  them  in  His 
own  person,  but  it  has  the  utmost  fitness  to  express  preach- 
ing by  His  Spirit  in  Noah:  (5)  When  they  hardened  them- 
selves against  the  preaching  of  Noah,  God  said,  '  My  Spirit 
shall  not  strive  with  man  forever '  (Gen.  vi.  3),  thus  declar- 
ing that  the  end  of  their  probationary  state  was  at  hand. 
Now  if  these  interpretations  be  correct,  there  is  not  a  word 
in  the  whole  Bible  upon  which  these  doctrines  of  a  purga- 
tory and  a  probation  after  death  can  be  founded,  but  very 
much,  as  we  have  seen,  which  is  directly  opposed  to  them. 

Whv,  then,  we  naturally  ask^  has  this  doctrine  of  Purga- 
tory' been  so  extensively  and  intensively  believed  ?  For  we 
can  trace  it  back  to  a  very  early  age.  In  answer  to  this  ques- 
tion, several  things  have  to  be  taken  into  consideration. 

I.  There  is  the  difficulty  which  we  all  feel  in  understand- 
ing how  Christians  who  die  in  a  state  of  imperfect  sanctifi- 
cation  can  be  received  immediately  into  heaven;  for  mani- 


296 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


festly  they  are  not  fit  for  it  when  they  leave  this  world. 
Often  they  die  suddenly,  in  the  midst  of  their  worldliness, 
their  hearts  defiled  with  evil  passions  and  inordinate  affec- 
tions. It  was  to  solve  this  acknowledged  difficulty  that  Pur- 
gatory was  invented.  But  the  true  solution,  I  am  persuaded, 
must  be  sought  in  St.  Paul's  distinction  between  sin  in  the 
mind,  rovv,  and  sin  in  the  members,  as  where  he  says  :  "  If 
what  I  would  not,  that  I  do,  it  is  no  more  I  that  do  it,  but 
sin  that  dwelleth  in  me.  .  .  .  For  I  delight  in  the  law  of  God 
after  the  inward  man,  but  I  see  another  law  in  my  members 
warring  against  the  law  of  my  mind,  and  bringing  me  into 
captivity  to  the  law  of  sin  in  my  members.  O  wretched  man 
that  I  am,  who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this  deatli  ? 
I  thank  God,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  [I  shall  be  de- 
livered] "  (Rom.  vii.  15-25).  That  which  is  to  be  particularly 
noted  in  all  this  is,  that  he  identifies  himself  absolutely  with 
his  renewed  spiritual  nature,  with  that  which  is  elsewhere 
called  *  the  new  man,'  *  the  hidden  man  of  the  heart ';  this  is 
his  '  I,'  his  true  self  ;  and  he  relegates  his  remaining  corrup- 
tions to  his  members,  his  flesh,  his  lower  nature,  which  is  not 
his  true  self.  It  is  of  this  new  nature,  also,  the  true  self  of 
the  Christian,  that  St.  John  speaks  in  the  words  :  "Whoso- 
ever is  born  of  God  doth  not  commit  sin.  .  .  .  He  cannot 
sin,  because  he  is  born  of  God  "  (i  John  iii.  9).  Now  it  is 
this  lower  element  of  our  complex  nature,  the  members,  the 
flesh,  in  which  our  remaining  corruptions  inhere,  which  falls 
away  from  us  at  death,  and  leaves  that  in  us  which  is  born 
of  God,  our  true  self,  free  from  its  corrupting  influences. 
This  may  enable  us  to  understand  how  truly  regenerate 
souls 'are  at  death  made  perfect  in  holiness,  and  do  imme- 
diately pass  into  glory.' 

2.  Another  influence  which  has  given  great  support  to  this 
doctrine  of  Purgatory,  is  the  unscriptural  belief  that  the 
sacraments  are  essential  to  salvation,  which  also  is  an  ancient 
and  hoary  error.  For  thus  the  question  arose,  What  is  to 
become  of  believers  who  have  been  involuntarily  prevented 
from  observing  the  sacraments,  and  of  unbaptized  infants  ? 
This  doctrine  provided  a  solution  of  these  difficulties.     For 


BLESSED  ESTATE  OF  THE  PIOUS  DEAD 


297 


all  such  adults  would  be  purified  by  the  purgatorial  fires,  in 
place  of  the  sacraments,  from  original  sin  and  all  actual 
transgressions.  But  inasmuch  as  infants  have  no  actual 
trangressions,  a  separate  purgatory  had  to  be  provided  for 
them.  But  the  true  solution  of  these  difficulties  is  contained 
in  the  Scriptural  doctrine  of  the  sacraments,  which  is,  that 
they  are  essential  only  when  practicable.  For  God  is  greater 
than  His  ordinances,  and  His  grace  is  not  so  limited  that 
those  who  are  involuntarily  deprived  of  them  cannot  be  sanc- 
tified without  them. 

3.  Still  another  influence  has  greatly  strengthened  the  two 
preceding,  and  confirmed  this  error,  namely,  the  doctrine 
of  priestly  mediation,  especially  in  this  particular,  that  the 
piiest,  by  prayers  and  masses  for  the  dead,  can  mitigate  and 
shorten  their  purgatorial  sufferings.  For  hence  it  became 
customary  for  people  to  pay  large  sums  of  money  to  the 
priests  for  such  prayers  and  masses  in  behalf  of  their  de- 
ceased relatives  and  friends.  This  source  of  wealth  has  long 
been,  and  still  continues  to  be,  enormous  to  the  Roman 
church.  Of  course,  it  could  not  fail  to  stimulate  her  zeal  in 
teaching  and  impressing  by  all  possible  means  this  doctrine 
of  Purgatory. 

These  are  some  of  the  influences  which  have  caused  this  de- 
lusion of  Satan  so  long  and  so  extensively  to  prevail.  But  no 
words  can  adequately  set  forth  the  evil  it  has  wrought.  For 
it  has  reacted  powerfully  in  support  of  priestly  mediation  be- 
tween Christ  and  the  souls  of  His  people,  and  of  the  idolatrous 
sacrifice  of  the  mass,  so  that  a  human  and  sinful  priesthood 
has  come  to  stand  to  the  whole  Romish  communion  in  place 
of  the  one  only  divine  Mediator,  and  the  mass  in  place 
of  His  most  holy  sacrifice,  which  was  offered  once  for  all, 
and  can  never  be  repeated.  It  is  by  this  means,  more  per- 
haps than  by  any  other,  that  papal  Rome  holds  her  millions 
in  mental  and  spiritual  bondage,  as  much  worse  than  political 
or  social  slavery  as  the  soul  is  of  more  worth  than  the  body. 
In  this  way,  this  pestilent  error  has  become  the  great  bul- 
wark of  all  her  other  superstitions  and  corruptions.  And 
what  a  horrible  picture  does  it  present  of  the  state  of  the 
13* 


298 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


pious  dead  !  What  a  hope  to  look  forward  to  a  long  period 
after  death,  perhaps  thousands  of  years,  in  the  flames  of 
Purgatory  !  With  such  a  belief,  how  could  we  face  the  king 
of  terrors,  or  bear  to  lay  our  loved  ones  in  the  tomb  !  How 
utterly  incongruous  is  all  this  with  the  grace  and  love  of 
Christ,  'who  hath  abolished  death'  (2  Tim.  i.  10)  for  His 
believing  and  trusting  people  ! 

In  conclusion,  we  may  well  bear  in  mind  the  doctrine  of 
this  vision,  and  of  the  whole  Scripture,  that  our  blessed  Lord 
has  provided  a  gracious  and  abundant  reward  for  all  our 
works  that  are  wrought  in  Him,  for  His  cause,  for  the  up- 
building of  His  kingdom.  Here,  indeed,  we  have  something 
worth  striving  for.  Hence  the  urgency  of  His  words  :  "  Lay 
not  up  for  yourselves  treasures  upon  earth,  where  moth  and 
rust  doth  corrupt,  and  where  thieves  break  through  and 
steal  ;  but  lay  up  for  yourselves  treasures  in  heaven,  where 
neither  moth  nor  rust  doth  corrupt,  and  where  thieves  do 
not  break  through  nor  steal  :  for  where  your  treasure  is, 
there  will  your  heart  be  also  "  (Mat.  vi.  19-21).  It  is  in  this 
way  that  our  works  '  follow  '  us  to  our  heavenly  rest,  and  are 
had  in  everlasting  remembrance  before  God.  By  them  we 
transfer  our  estate  fro'm  earth  to  heaven,  where  our  citizen- 
ship is,  and  whither  we  are  soon  to  remove.  They  are  the 
best  investment  we  can  make,  for  the  Lord  is  the  best  of 
paymasters  :  "  His  commandments  are  not  grievous  (i  John 
V.  3): 

Like  as  a  father  pitieth  his  children, 

So  the  Lord  pitieth  them  that  fear  Him  ; 

For  He  knoweth  our  frame, 

He  remembereth  that  we  are  dust  (Ps.  ciii.  13-14). 

I  will  spare  them  as  a  man  spareth  his  own  son  that  serveth  him  "  (Mai.  iii.  17). 


XXXV 

THE  HARVEST  AND  VINTAGE  OF  THE  EARTH  INGATHER- 
ING OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  TO  THEIR  REWARD  AND  OF 
THE   WICKED   TO   THEIR   PUNISHMENT      XIV    I4-20 

This  vision,  like  that  of  the  Jubilate  in  Heaven  (228),  and 
others,  and  in  accordance  with  the  cyclical  structure  of  the 
book  (202),  reaches  over  beyond  the  seven  last  plagues, 
which  are  yet  to  come,  and  represents  what  takes  place  at 
the  close  of  the  dispensation,  namely,  the  final  ingathering 
of  the  saved  to  their  reward  under  the  image  of  a  reaping  of 
cereals,  and  that  of  the  wicked  to  their  punishment  under 
the  image  of  a  vintage  of  grapes  and  their  being  trodden  in 
a  wine-press. 

14  And  I  saw,  and,  behold,  a  white  cloud,  and  one  sitting  upon  the 
cloud  like  unto  a  son  of  man,  having  a  crown  of  gold  upon  His  head, 
and  a  sharp  sickle  in  His  hand. 

He  who  now  appears  as  one  like  unto  a  son  of  man  can  be 
no  other,  of  course,  than  the  Lord  Christ,  who  now  comes 
forth  to  the  harvest  and  vintage  of  the  earth.  He  wears 
a  crown  of  gold  in  allusion  to  the  words  of  the  Messianic 
Psalm  : 

Thou  settest  a  crown  of  fine  gold  upon  His  head.  .  .  . 
Honor  and  majesty  thou  layest  upon  Him  (Ps.  xxi.  3-5); 

to  denote  the  purity  and  preciousness  of  His  royal  authority 
(33).  He  sits  on  a  white  cloud  in  token  of  the  purity  of  His 
judgment,  and  of  His  victory  over  all  His  enemies  (35);  also 
in  fulfilment  of  His  own  prophecy  :  "  They  shall  see  the  Son 
of  Man  coming  in  a  cloud  with  power  and  great  glory  " 
(Luke  xxi.  27).  And  He  holds  a  sharp  sickle  in  His  hand  to 
denote  that  the  reaping  and  vintage  of  the  earth  is  about  to 
begin. 

(299) 


300 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


15  And  another  angel  came  forth  out  of  the  temple,  crying  with  a 
great  voice  unto  Him  that  sat  upon  the  cloud,  Send  forth  thy  sickle 
and  reap,  for  the  time  to  reap  is  come,  for  the  harvest  of  the  earth  is 
become  dry. 

This  angel  comes  forth  out  of  the  temple,  i.  e.  from  the 
immediate  presence  of  God,  to  signify  that  the  message 
which  he  brings  comes  directly  from  God  (95).  His  great 
voice  denotes  the  urgency  of  the  command  which  God  now 
sends  to  His  Son,  that  the  earth  is  to  be  reaped  without 
further  delay,  because  its  precious  grain  has  become  dry, 
and  will  perish  if  it  be  not  garnered.  The  grain  here,  as  else- 
where, is  the  symbol  of  the  righteous,  those  who  are  to  be 
saved  out  of  the  world.  But  what  need  of  such  a  message, 
that  '  the  hour  is  come  '  for  the  reaping  ?  Does  the  Son  of 
God,  the  mediatorial  ruler  of  the  world,  need  information 
from  His  Father,  that  this  time  has  come  ?  He  himself 
gives  us  the  answer  to  this  question  :  "  Of  that  day,  or  of 
that  hour,  knoweth  no  one,  not  even  the  angels  who  are  in 
heaven,  not  even  the  Son,  but  the  Father  only"  (Mark  xiii. 
32).  As  man,  nay,  as  Mediator,  He  knows  not  the  time  of 
the  end.  This  is  one  of  the  '  times  or  seasons  which  the 
Father  hath  set  within  His  own  authority  '  (Acts  i.  7).  It  is 
for  this  reason  that  He  is  here  represented  as  receiving  the 
necessary  information,  and  command  to  begin  the  reaping, 
from  His  Father  by  this  angel  or  messenger  :  in  all  which 
the  wonderful  precision  of  the  symbolization  of  this  book  is 
again  exemplified. 

16  And  He  that  sat  upon  the  cloud  cast  His  sickle  upon  the  earth, 
and  the  earth  was  reaped. 

This  reaping  symbolizes  the  ingathering  from  the  natural 
life  of  man,  represented  by  the  earth  (153),  of  all  the  spiritual 
life  the  seed  of  which  has  been  sown  in  it  by  the  Lord,  and 
which  has  now  become  fully  ripe.  In  the  whole  symbolical 
transaction  there  are  significant  allusions  to  the  following 
and  other  passages  :  "  Lift  up  your  eyes  and  look  upon  the 
fields,  that  they  are  white  already  unto  the  harvest  (John 


REWARD  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 


301 


iv.  35).  Whose  fan  is  in  His  hand,  and  He  will  thoroughly 
cleanse  His  threshing  floor,  and  will  gather  His  wheat  into 
His  garner  "  (Mat.  iii.  12).  No  particulars  of  the  glory  of 
the  saved  are  here  given,  because  it  has  been  before,  and  will 
be  hereafter,  described  with  great  fulness.  But  the  general 
idea  of  this  glory  is  contained  in  the  symbol  ;  for  as  wheat 
is  harvested  and  cleansed  from  chaff  with  the  utmost  care, 
in  order  to  its  being  taken  up  to  its  highest  use  as  human 
food,  so  the  Lord's  people,  at  their  ingathering,  are  exalted 
to  their  highest  sphere  of  usefulness,  and  utilized  for  the 
noblest  ends  which  they  are  capable  of  serving,  in  which 
their  true  glorification  consists. 

17  And  another  angel  came  forth  out  of  the  temple  which  is  in 
heaven,  having  himself  also  a  sharp  sickle. 

The  harvest  is  immediately  followed  by  the  vintage.  The 
order  of  these  two  things  is  not  always  the  same,  since  they 
are  only  different  sides  or  aspects  of  one  transaction,  which 
is  the  final  realization  of  divine  justice.  For  as  the  former 
represents  the  ingathering  of  the  righteous  to  their  glory 
and  reward,  so  the  latter  represents  the  assembling  of  the 
wicked  to  their  judgment  and  punishment.  This  angel  of 
the  vintage,  like  the  preceding,  comes  forth  out  of  the  heav- 
enly temple  though  he  brings  no  message,  to  signify  that 
the  punishment  of  the  wicked,  no  less  than  the  salvation  of 
the  righteous,  comes  immediately  from  God.  He  also  holds 
in  his  hand  a  sickle,  and  not  the  common  grape-knife,  per- 
haps to  denote  that  the  same  instrumentality  by  which  the 
rigtiteous  are  saved  destroys  the  wicked,  just  as  the  gospel 
is  a  savor  both  of  life  and  of  death  (2  Cor.  ii.  16).  It  is  sharp 
to  signify  that  he  is  to  make  the  vintage  rapid  and  complete. 
But  he  cannot  begin  until  another  symbolical  transaction, 
and  one  of  great  significance,  has  taken  place,  as  follows. 

18  And  another  angel  came  forth  from  the  altar,  he  that  hath 
authority  of  the  fire  ;  and  he  cried  with  a  great  cry  unto  him  that  had 
the  sharp  sickle,  saying,  Send  forth  thy  sharp  sickle,  and  gather  the 
clusters  of  the  vine  of  the  earth,  for  her  grapes  are  fully  ripe. 

This  angel  comes  forth  from  the  altar  of  incense,  the  fire 


302  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

of  which  is  the  symbol  of  the  divine  justice,  and  over  this 
fire  he  has  authority  ;  which  seems  to  identify  him  with 
the  angel  of  a  former  vision,  who  casts  this  fire  upon  the 
earth  (167);  and  by  this  authority  he  executes  the  justice  of 
God  upon  the  ungodly.  Moreover,  it  is  from  this  altar  that 
the  prayers  of  the  saints  go  up  before  God,  the  burden  of 
which  is,  that  His  kingdom  may  come,  which  necessarily 
requires  that  His  justice  shall  be  executed  upon  the  incor- 
rigibly rebellious  (169),  The  time  to  answer  these  prayers 
has  now  come,  and  hence  this  angel  comes  forth  from  the 
altar  of  prayer,  and  cries,  literally  '  with  a  great  clamor,'  to 
the  angel  of  the  vintage,  that  he  must  hasten  to  '  gather  the 
clusters  of  the  vine  of  the  earth,  for  her  grapes  are  fully 
ripe.'  This  vine  of  the  earth  is  the  Adam  in  man,  the  prin- 
ciple of  his  natural  or  earthly  life,  and  its  clusters  are  men 
in  their  fallen,  unrenewed  nature,  in  accordance  with  the 
imagery  of  the  prophet  : 

Their  vine  is  the  vine  of  Sodom, 

And  of  the  fields  of  Gomorrah  ; 

Their  grapes  are  grapes  of  gall, 

Their  clusters  are  bitterness  ; 

Their  wine  is  the  poison  of  dragons, 

And  the  cruel  venom  of  asps  (Deut.  xxxii.  32-33). 

The  ripeness  of  the  grapes  signifies  that  the  cup  of  the 
world's  iniquities  is  now  full,  and  that  the  time  has  come  for 
its  judgment  and  punishment.  This  whole  vision  refers  to 
the  Lord's  parable  of  the  wheat  and  the  tares  :  '*  The  harvest 
is  the  end  of  the  world,  and  the  reapers  are  the  angels.  As, 
therefore,  the  tares  are  gathered  up  and  burned  with  fire,  so 
shall  it  be  in  the  end  of  the  world  :  the  Son  of  Man  will  send 
forth  His  angels,  and  they  shall  gather  out  of  His  kingdom 
all  things  that  offend,  and  them  that  do  iniquity,  and  shall 
cast  them  into  the  furnace  of  fire  :  there  shall  bewailing  and 
gnashing  of  teeth  :  then  shall  the  righteous  shine  forth  as 
the  sun  in  the  kingdom  of  their  Father.  Who  hath  ears  to 
hear,  let  him  hear  "  (Mat.  xiii,  38-43). 

19  And  the  angel  cast  his  sickle  unto  the  earth,  and  gathered  the 
vine  of  the  earth,  and  cast  it  into  the  great  wine-press  of  the  wrath  of 


PUNISHMENT  OF  THE   WICKED  303 

God  :  20  and  the  wine-press  was  trodden  without  the  city  ;  and  there 
came  forth  blood  out  of  the  wine-press,  even  unto  the  bridles  of  the 
horses,  as  far  as  a  thousand  six  hundred  furlongs. 

This  perhaps  is  the  most  appalling  imagery  of  the  final 
punishment  of  the  ungodly  that  is  to  be  found  in  the  whole 
word  of  God.  For  although  the  Seer,  being  himself  ap- 
palled, does  not  tell  us  here  whom  he  saw  treading  this  wine- 
press, yet  elsewhere  he  informs  us  that  it  is  He  whose  name 
is  the  Word  of  God  who  *  treadeth  the  wine-press  of  the  wine 
of  the  anger  of  the  wrath  of  God  the  Almighty  '  (Rev.  xix. 
15).  This  is  plainly  declared  also  in  the  Messianic  prophecy 
to  which  there  is  here  a  significant  allusion  : 

Who  is  this  that  cometh  from  Edom, 

With  crimsoned  garments  from  Bozrah  ? 

This  that  is  glorious  in  His  apparel, 

Marching  in  the  greatness  of  His  streng^th  ? 

I  that  speak  in  righteousness, 

Mighty  to  save. 

Wherefore  art  thou  red  in  thine  apparel, 

And  thy  garments  like  him  that  treadeth  in  the  winefat  ? 

I  have  trodden  the  wine-press  alone. 

And  of  the  peoples  there  was  no  man  with  me  : 

Yea,  I  have  trodden  them  in  mine  anger. 

And  trampled  them  in  my  fury  ; 

And  their  life  blood  is  sprinkled  upon  my  garments. 

And  I  have  stained  my  raiment : 

For  the  day  of  vengeance  was  in  my  heart. 

And  the  year  of  my  redemption  is  come  (Is.  Ixiii.  1-4). 

All  this,  however,  is  in  perfect  accord  with  the  statements 
that  '■  He  will  shepherd  the  nations  with  a  rod  of  iron,  and 
dash  them  in  pieces  as  a  potter's  vessel'  (78);  and  that  *  the 
ungodly  shall  call  upon  the  rocks  and  mountains  to  fall  on 
them,  and  hide  them  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb  '  (149). 
For  such  is  the  justice  of  God,  howsoever  we  would  have  it 
otherwise.  Here  also  we  see  what  perfect  unity  of  doctrine 
runs  through  the  whole  Scripture;  not  only  concerning  the 
awful  severity  of  the  punishment  of  the  wicked,  but  also  that 
it  is  inseparably  connected  with  the  salvation  of  the  right- 
eous ;  for  in  this  prophecy,  as  everywhere  else,  the  day  of 
the  Lord's  vengeance  is  that  of  His  redemption.     In  fine,  it 


304 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YFSE 


is  significantly  added  that  the  wine-press  is  trodden  without 
the  city,  in  which  there  may  be  some  allusion  to  the  Lord's 
having  suffered  outside  of  Jerusalem  ;  but  this  city  is  doubt- 
less the  New  Jerusalem,  the  final  abode  of  the  saved,  from 
which  all  are  excluded  upon  whom  this  punishment  is  in- 
flicted. From  the  wine-press  thus  trodden  blood  flows  in 
such  depth  and  volume  that  it  rises  to  the  bridle-bits  of  the 
horses,  and  extends  to  the  distance  of  i,6oo  stadia,  200  miles  ; 
which  still  further  emphasizes  the  severity  of  this  execution 
of  the  divine  justice.  But  I  cannot  give  a  more  particular 
interpretation  of  these  symbols.  A  great  deal  has  been  writ- 
ten on  the  subject,  but  nothing  that  gives  any  satisfaction. 
Yet  here,  as  in  so  many  other  cases,  though  particulars  may 
not  be  clear,  the  general  sense,  the  very  heart  of  the  revela- 
tion, the  impression  it  was  intended  to  make,  is  perfectly 
evident  (12)  ;  and  whatever  else  it  may  contain  may  safely 
be  left  *  till  the  day  shall  declare  it '  (i  Cor.  iii.  13). 

1.  It  can  hardly  be  without  significance  that  this  judgment 
upon  the  ungodly  is  represented  as  a  vintage  of  grapes,  and 
the  grapes  as  trodden  in  a  wine-press.  Indeed,  wherever  in 
these  visions  wine  is  mentioned,  with  one  sole  exception,  it 
has  the  worst  possible  meaning,  as  in  *  the  wine  of  the  rage 
of  her  fornication  *  (274).  May  not  this  be  a  prophetic  inti- 
mation of  the  horrible  evils  which  are  caused  by  the  abuse 
of  intoxicants  ?  For  according  to  the  testimony  of  our 
criminal  courts,  it  is  the  cause  of  at  least  three-fourths  of  all 
the  crimes  that  are  committed  ;  and  it  produces  more  degra- 
dation, misery,  and  sorrow,  and  consigns  to  perdition  more 
human  beings,  than  any  other  of  the  baleful  influences  in- 
cluded in  '  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil.' 

2.  The  pity,  grace,  love  of  God  cannot  save  men  in  their 
sins.  We  must  be  saved  from  sin,  or  we  cannot  be  saved  at 
all.  This  truth  runs  through  the  whole  word  of  God,  and 
is,  indeed,  self-evident  when  we  come  to  think  of  it :  "  Thou 
shalt  call  His  name  Jesus  [Saviour],  for  He  shall  save  His 
people  from  their  sins  "  (Mat.  i.  21).  This  is  the  only  salva- 
tion that  He  has  to  offer,  or  that  is  conceivable  for  sinful 
souls.     A  drunkard  cannot  be  saved  but  by  ceasing  to  be  a 


PUNISHMENT  OF  THE   WICKED  305 

drunkard,  and  so  of  all  other  sinners.  Hence,  as  we  are  here 
admonished,  God  will  have  no  mercy  upon  those  who  are 
found  at  last  unsaved  from  their  sins  ;  there  is  no  mercy 
which  can  reach  their  case  :  "  For  we  know  that  the  judg- 
ment of  God  is  according  to  truth  against  them  that  do  such 
things.  And  thinkest  thou  this,  O  man,  who  judgest  them 
that  do  such  things,  and  doest  the  same,  that  thou  shalt 
escape  the  judgment  of  God  ?  Or  despisest  thou  the  riches 
of  His  goodness  and  forbearance  and  long-suffering,  not 
knowing  that  the  goodness  of  God  leadeth  thee  to  repent- 
ance ?  but  after  thy  hardness  and  impenitent  heart  treasurest 
up  unto  thyself  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath  and  revela- 
tion of  the  righteous  judgment  of  God  ;  who  will  render  to 
every  man  according  to  his  works"  (Rom.  ii.  2-6).  It  is  an 
utter  perversion  of  the  whole  revelation  which  God  has  given 
of  Himself  to  gather  from  it  that  He  is  too  merciful  to  pun- 
ish incorrigible  sinners  as  they  deserve  :  and  this  miserable 
delusion,  which  is  now  so  prevalent,  is  no  less  in  the  face  of 
His  providence  in  the  judgments  and  sufferings  of  our  sinful 
race  in  this  life. 

3.  Here  also  we  are  instructed  that  there  is  a  time  when 
the  grapes  are  not  yet  ripe  for  the  vintage,  when  judgment 
is  delayed;  and  some  of  the  reasons  for  this  delay  we  can 
understand.  In  fact,  they  were  not  wholly  unknown  to  the 
heathen,  for  one  of  them,  the  amiable  and  accomplished 
Plutarch,  has  left  us  a  treatise  on  the  Delay  of  the  Divine  Jus- 
tice, which  is  one  of  the  most  precious  remains  of  heathen 
antiquity.  One  such  reason,  and  probably  the  most  import- 
ant of  all,  is,  that  God  may  bring  to  bear  upon  us  all  the 
power  of  His  longsuffering  mercy  to  lead  us  to  repentance; 
for  *  He  is  not  willing  that  any  should  perish,  but  that  all 
should  come  to  repentance '  (2  Pet.  iii.  9).  Yet  this  delay 
has  its  necessary  limits;  the  clusters  of  the  vine  become  ripe, 
when  they  must  be  gathered  and  cast  into  the  wine-press; 
for  where  mercy  fails,  justice  must  be  executed.  How  pre- 
cious, then,  must  be  the  time  of  this  delay  !  What  unspeak- 
able folly  to  let  it  pass  unimproved  !  What  intolerable  self- 
proach,  remorse,  must  the  lost  one    suffer  for   this    folly  ! 


3o6 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


With  what  heart-piercing  anguish  must  he  say  to  himself  :  I 
might  have  been  saved;  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  was  offered 
for  me,  and  I  might  have  accepted  it.  Through  many  long 
years  God  exercised  upon  me  His  longsuffering  compassion. 
I  was  often  admonished  and  entreated  to  flee  from  the  wrath 
to  come.  I  knew  that  I  ought  to  repent  and  accept  the 
offered  salvation.  But  I  abused  the  mercy  that  would  have 
saved  me,  and  put  off,  day  after  day,  month  after  month, 
year  after  year,  my  return  to  God.  I  resisted  and  grieved 
His  Holy  Spirit,  that  never  ceased  to  strive  with  me  to  draw 
me  away  from  self-destruction.  I  trampled  upon  the  blood 
of  my  Saviour  which  was  shed  for  me.  I  hardened  myself 
in  impenitence  until  it  was  too  late;  until  the  cup  of  my  ini- 
quity was  filled  up,  and  the  patience  of  God  was  exhausted. 
I  was  a  tree  planted  in  a  very  fruitful  soil,  watered  with  the 
dew  and  the  rain  from  heaven,  and  the  quickening  sun- 
beams were  not  withheld;  but  I  bore  no  fruit  unto  God;  my 
boughs  were  loaded  with  the  apples  of  Sodom.  I  was  a  vine 
set  in  a  vineyard,  under  the  choicest  heavenly  influences, 
pruned  and  tended  with  all  the  vinedresser's  care;  but  my 
clusters  were  the  grapes  of  Gomorrah.  O  my  lost  soul,  thou 
hast  destroyed  thyself. 


XXXVI 

THE  ANGELS  OF  THE  LAST  PLAGUES  THE  GLASSY  SEA 
THE  SONG  OF  MOSES  AND  THE  LAMB  THE  GREAT 
GLORY    OF   GOD        XV    1-8 

This  is  the  last  vision  of  the  seven  trumpets,  and  the  first 
of  the  seven  last  plagues:  for  as,  in  the  rhythmical  structure 
of  the  book,  the  seventh  seal  opens  into  the  seven  trumpets, 
so  the  seventh  trumpet  opens  into  the  seven  last  plagues 
(163).  The  vision  contains  a  number  of  particulars  in  prep- 
aration for  the  full  disclosure  of  these  plagues,  i.  e.  the  seven 
angels  who  minister  in  them;  the  glassy  sea  mingled  with 
fire;  the  saved  with  the  harps  of  God  in  their  hands,  singing 
the  song  of  Moses  and  the  Lamb;  the  glory  and  power  of 
God  in  the  heavenly  temple.  The  whole  is  a  heaven-scene, 
and  all  these  particulars  have  their  centre  and  unity  in  the 
idea  of  preparation  for  the  tremendous  judgments  of  the 
seven  last  plagues. 

I  And  I  saw  another  sign  in  heaven,  great  and  marvellous  :  seven 
angels  having  seven  plagues,  the  last,  for  in  them  is  the  wrath  of  God 
accomplished. 

This  is  'another'  sign  with  reference  to  the  two  which  he 
has  seen  before,  namely,  those  of  the  travailing  woman  and 
the  great  red  dragon.  It  is  seen  *  in  heaven,'  i.  e.  in  the  sky, 
and  includes  all  the  phenomena  of  the  vision,  for  these 
angels  do  not  appear  until  near  its  close.  It  is  '  great  and 
marvellous,'  both  with  respect  to  its  size  as  represented  in 
the  sky,  and  to  the  glory  of  these  angels,  the  mysterious  and 
fearful  judgments  in  which  they  minister,  the  glassy  sea,  the 
joy  and  song  of  the  saved,  and  all  the  other  particulars  of 
the  vision.  The  number  'seven'  of  the  angels  and  of  their 
plagues  is  significant  of  the  fulness  and  perfection  of  this 

(307) 


308  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

accomplishment  of  the  wrath  of  God,  and  of  its  efficacy  in 
subduing  the  rebellion  of  the  world  (14). 

2  And  I  saw  as  it  were  a  glassy  sea  mingled  with  fire,  and  them 
that  had  come  off  victorious  from  the  beast,  and  from  his  image,  and 
from  the  number  of  his  name,  standing  on  the  glassy  sea,  having  the 
harps  of  God. 

As  the  worshippers  of  the  beast  include  the  whole  ungod- 
ly world,  with  special  reference  to  those  in  the  church  who 
have  been  fatally  corrupted  by  it  (285),  so  they  who  have 
come  off  victorious  from  the  conflict  with  him  must  include 
all  the  saved,  yet  with  a  like  special  reference  to  those  in  the 
church  who  have  been  sorely  tempted  by  worldly  influences, 
but  have  obtained  the  victory  over  them.  It  is  the  people  of 
God,  then,  in  their  totality,  who  are  here  seen  as  having  over- 
come all  antichristian  powers  and  influences,  especially  the 
corrupting  influences  of  the  world  in  the  church,  and  as 
standing  '  on,'  i.  e.  on  the  shore  of  this  glassy  sea  ;  which, 
as  we  have  seen,  is  the  symbol  of  human  life,  with  refer- 
ence to  the  providence  of  God  in  dealing  with  its  stormy 
perturbations  (112);  under  which,  whereas  it  was  formerly 
opaque  and  inscrutable,  it  has  now  become  smooth  as  glass 
and  transparent  as  crystal.  Here  it  is  mingled  with  fire,  the 
constant  symbol  of  divine  justice,  to  denote  that  life  is  per- 
meated with  this  justice  for  the  chastisement  and  purifica- 
tion of  God's  people,  and  for  the  punishment  of  His  incor- 
rigible enemies.  The  saved  are  now  seen  as  having  passed 
through  it,  and  as  standing  on  its  farther  shore,  with  the 
harps  of  God  in  their  hands,  to  signify  that  they  have  been 
purified  by  the  fire  with  which  it  is  mingled,  and  that  they 
are  no  longer  subject  to  its  fiery  trials;  for  all  which  they 
now  praise  God  with  their  harps  and  voices.  The  whole  rep- 
resentation is  to  be  interpreted  by  the  allusion  which  runs 
through  it  to  the  passage  of  the  children  of  Israel  through 
the  Red  Sea,  in  which  the  pursuing  host  of  their  ene- 
mies were  drowned;  after  which  they  found  themselves  in 
safety  on  the  farther  shore,  and  celebrated  their  deliverance 
with  festive  joy,  timbrels,  and  dancing.  This  allusion  will 
be  more  fully  developed  in  what  immediately  follows. 


SONG  OF  NOSES  AND   THE  LAMB  309 

3  And  they  sing  the  song  of  Moses  the  servant  of  God  and  the 
song  of  the  Lamb,  saying,  Great  and  wonderful  are  thy  works,  O 
Lord  God  Almighty  :  just  and  true  are  thy  ways,  O  thou  King  of  the 
nations.  4  Who,  O  Lord,  shall  not  fear  and  glorify  thy  name  ?  For 
thou  only  art  holy  :  for  all  the  nations  shall  come  and  worship  before 
thee,  because  thy  righteousnesses  have  been  made  manifest. 

The  allusion  here  is  to  that  song  of  Moses  wherewith  he 
and  his  people  celebrated  their  deliverance  from  the  Egyp- 
tians by  the  overthrow  of  Pharaoh  and  his  host  in  the  Red 
Sea.     Its  character  may  be  seen  in  the  following  quotations: 

I  will  sing  unto  the  Lord,  for  He  hath  triumphed  gloriously  ; 

The  horse  and  his  rider  hath  He  cast  into  the  sea  .  .  . 

Thy  right  hand,  O  Lord,  is  glorious  in  power ; 

Thy  right  hand ,  O  Lord,  dasheth  in  pieces  the  enemy  .  .  . 

Who  is  like  unto  thee,  O  Lord,  among  the  gods  ? 

Who  is  like  unto  thee,  glorious  in  holiness. 

Fearful  in  praises,  doing  wonders  ?  .  .  . 

Thou  in  thy  mercy  hast  led  the  people  whom  thou  hast  redeemed ; 

Thou  hast  guided  them  in  thy  strength  unto  thy  holy  habitation. 

The  peoples  have  heard  ;  they  tremble  ; 

Fear  hath  taken  hold  upon  the  inhabitants  of  Philistia  .  .  . 

Terror  and  dread  falleth  upon  them  ; 

By  the  greatness  of  thine  arm  they  are  as  still  as  a  stone, 

Till  thy  people  pass  over,  O  Lord  ; 

Till  the  people  pass  over  whom  thou  hast  redeemed. 

Thou  wilt  bring  them  in  and  plant  them  in  the  mountain  of  thine  inheritance  ; 

The  place,  O  Lord,  which  thou  hast  made  for  thee  to  dwell  in  ; 

The  sanctuary,  O  Lord,  which  thy  hands  have  established. 

And  Miriam  the  prophetess,  the  sister  of  Aaron,  took  a  tim- 
brel in  her  hand,  and  all  the  women  went  out  after  her  with 
timbrels  and  dances  ;  and  Miriam  answered  them: 

Sing  ye  unto  the  Lord,  for  He  hath  triumphed  gloriously ; 

The  horse  and  his  rider  hath  He  cast  into  the  sea  (Ex.  xv.  1-21). 

Now  this  deliverance  of  the  Old  Testament  church  from  her 
bondage  in  Egypt,  that  she  might  devote  herself  wholly  to  the 
service  of  God,  is,  as  we  have  seen,  one  of  the  grand  his- 
toric types  of  the  deliverance  of  the  latter  day  church  from 
subjection  to  the  great  antichristian  world-power  (282).  This 
power  has  now  been  overthrown  and  destroyed  in  this  sea 
that  is  *  mingled  with  fire,'  as  the  Egyptians  were  in  the  Red 


310  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

Sea;  and  the  people  of  God  are  now  set  free  to  devote  them- 
selves wholly  to  the  service  and  praise  of  their  great  Deliv- 
erer. Hence  the  song  which  they  now  sing  on  the  farther 
shore  of  this  sea,  after  they  have  come  off  victorious  from 
their  conflicts  with  the  beast  and  his  image,  and  have  come 
safely  through  all  their  earthly  temptations  and  trials,  is 
called  '  the  song  of  Moses.'  It  is  also  '  the  song  of  the  Lamb,' 
because  their  deliverance  has  been  wrought  out  through  His 
sacrifice  and  all-conquering  power,  and  is  the  fulfilment  or 
realization  of  its  typical  foreshadowing  in  the  deliverance  of 
Israel.  In  almost  every  word  of  it  there  is  some  allusion  to 
corresponding  expressions  in  the  song  of  Moses.  For  it 
celebrates  the  works  of  God,  the  Almighty,  or  All-Ruler  (23), 
as  great  and  wonderful,  because  nothing  short  of  His  al- 
mighty power  could  have  accomplished  this  great  deliverance; 
also,  His  truth,  holiness,  and  covenant  faithfulness,  to  which 
last  idea  the  peculiar  word  ' oaio'^  here  rendered  'holy,'  has  a 
special  reference;  and  His  'righteousnesses,'  or  righteous 
judgments,  as  now  made  manifest;  in  consequence  of  which 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth  shall  come  and  worship  before 
Him,  and  glorify  His  name:  in  all  which  we  have  a  grand 
prophecy  of  the  glory  and  joy  of  the  saved,  and  subordi- 
nately,  as  it  would  seem,  of  the  Lord's  millennial  reign, 
which  will  follow  the  overthrow  of  the  world-power. 

5  And  after  these  things  I  saw,  and  the  temple  of  the  tabernacle 
of  the  testimony  in  heaven  \was  opened  ;  6  and  there  came  forth  out 
of  the  temple  the  seven  angels  that  had  the  seven  plagues,  arrayed  in 
pure  bright  linen,  and  girt  about  the  breasts  with  golden  girdles. 

Having  represented  the  deliverance  and  festive  rejoicing 
of  the  saved,  the  vision  now  proceeds  with  a  more  particular 
description  of  the  angelic  ministers  in  these  last  judgments. 
They  come  forth  out  of  'the  temple  of  the  tabernacle  of  the 
testimony  in  heaven  ' — cumulative  expressions  intended  to 
designate  emphatically  the  inmost  shrine  of  the  Holy  of 
Holies,  where  was  the  ark  of  the  testimony,  now  made  visi- 
ble by  the  opening  of  the  temple  (231) — to  signify  that  the 
judgments  which  they  are  to  inflict  proceed  from  God,  who 


SEVEN  ANGELS  WITH  THEIR  CHALICES  OF  WRA  TH 


311 


'dwells  between  the  cherubim  '  (Ps.  Ixxx.  i),  and  especially 
from  His  holiness,  truth,  and  covenant  faithfulness  to  His 
promises,  in  which  He  has  given  the  kingdoms  of  the  world 
unto  His  Son,  in  order  to  the  fulfilment  of  which  these  judg- 
ments are  now  to  be  executed.  The  appearance  of  these 
angels  is  very  glorious.  They  are  arrayed  in  pure,  bright 
linen  (85),  to  denote  that  they  are  holy  beings,  and  that  the 
wrath  of  God  of  which  they  are  the  ministers  is  no  impure, 
personal,  or  selfish  passion,  but  His  holiness  and  justice  in 
the  government  of  His  moral  creatures:  and  they  are  girt 
about  the  breasts  with  golden  girdles,  like  the  Lord  Himself 
(34),  as  being  endued  with  His  royal  authority  to  execute 
His  pure  and  precious  justice  upon  the  rebellious  world. 

7  And  one  of  the  four  living  creatures  gave  unto  the  seven  angels 
seven  golden  chalices  full  of  the  wrath  of  God,  who  liveth  forever  and 
ever. 

These  creatures  are,  as  we  have  seen,  the  symbols  of  the 
wisdom  and  power  of  God  in  nature,  and  hence  of  nature 
itself  in  its  totality  (113).  In  the  vision  of  the  first  four  seals 
they  call  forth  God's  four  sore  judgments,  w-ar,  pestilence, 
famine,  and  beasts  of  prey,  because  it  is  within  the  realm 
and  by  the  destructive  forces  of  nature,  including  man,  that 
those  judgments  are  executed  (128).  Here  one  of  them  reap- 
pears and  gives  to  these  seven  angels  seven  chalices  or  bowls 
('vials,'  in  the  English  Bible,  does  not  give  the  meaning  of 
the  Greek  word)  full  of  the  wrath  of  God,  to  denote  that 
these  plagues  will  take  effect,  in  great  part  at  least, within 
the  same  realm  and  by  the  same  forces,  i.  e.  as  we  shall  see, 
in  the  sun,  air,  earth,  rivers,  and  fountains.  The  chalices 
are  of  gold,  to  signify  that  nothing  is  more  pure  or  precious 
than  the  divine  justice  and  judgments  (33);  and  they  are 
full  of  the  wrath  of  God,  '  who  liveth  forever  and  ever,'  to 
denote  that  His  justice,  being  one  of  His  essential  attributes, 
can  never  cease  to  be  exercised. 

8  And  the  temple  was  filled  with  smoke  from  the  glory  of  God  and 
from  His  power  ;  and  no  one  Awas  able  to  enter  into  the  temple,  until 
the  seven  plagues  of  the  seven  angels  should  be  accomplished. 

These  particulars  of  the  vision  refer  to  such  parallel  pas- 


312 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YFSE 


sages  as  the  following:  "  The  cloud  covered  the  tent  of  meet- 
ing, and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  filled  the  tabernacle:  and 
Moses  was  not  able  to  enter  into  the  tent  of  meeting,  be- 
cause the  cloud  abode  thereon,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
filled  the  tabernacle  (Ex.  xl.  34-35).  And  the  Lord  said  unto 
Moses,  Go  down,  charge  the  people,  lest  they  break  through 
unto  the  Lord  to  gaze,  and  many  of  them  perish  (xix.  21). 
The  cloud  filled  the  house  of  the  Lord,  so  that  the  priests 
could  not  stand  to  minister  by  reason  of  the  cloud;  for  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  filled  the  house  of  the  Lord  (i  Ki.  viii. 
lo-ii).  And  one  [of  the  seraphim]  cried  unto  another,  and 
said: 

Holy,  holy,  holy  is  the  Lord  of  hosts  ; 

The  whole  earth  is  full  of  His  glory. 

And  the  foundations  of  the  thresholds  were  moved  at  the  voice  of  him  that  cried ; 

And  the  house  was  filled  with  smoke  (Is.  vi,  3-4). 

Clouds  and  darkness  are  round  about  Him  ; 

Justice  and  judgment  are  the  foundation  of  His  throne  (Ps.  xcvii.  2). 

There  went  up  smoke  in  His  wrath, 

And  fire  out  of  His  mouth  devoured  (xviii.  8). 

The  meaning  is,  that  God,  especially  in  the  exercise  of  His 
justice,  is  veiled  from  the  scrutiny  of  finite  minds  ;  for  we 
are  not  able  to  see  the  necessity  for  its  awful  severity.  We 
cannot  estimate  the  enormity  of  the  evil  of  sin,  nor  bear  the 
effulgence  of  the  divine  glory  in  its  punishment.  Hence  it 
is  that  when  God  sends  forth  these  ministers  of  His  wrath, 
the  temple  of  His  immediate  presence  is  filled  with  smoke, 
and  no  one  is  able  to  enter  in  to  gaze  upon  Him,  until  His 
judgments  are  accomplished.  But  when  that  shall  have 
taken  place,  and  we  shall  have  come  to  stand  in  the  light  of 
His  immediate  presence,  then  all  the  mysteries  of  His 
justice  and  judgment  will  be  cleared  up,  and  'we  shall  see 
Him  as  He  is '  (i  John  iii.  2). 

There  is  no  doubt  but  that  these  last  plagues  are  yet  to 
come  upon  the  world;  and  in  order  that  we  should  pass 
through  them  unscathed,  we  must  learn  to  sing  the  song  of 
Moses  and  the  Lamb,  which  is  that  of  our  deliverance  from 
bondage  to  the  earthly  and  worldly  life;  we  must  have  in 
full  exercise  that  faith  which  is  the  very  substance  of  our 


THE  GREAT  GLORY  OF  GOD 


313 


hoped-for  deliverance  when  the  great  antichristian  world- 
power  shall  be  destroyed  (Heb.  xi.  i),  and  by  which  only  can 
we  conform  our  lives  to  the  admonition  of  the  holy  apostle: 
"  If,  then,  ye  have  been  raised  together  with  Christ,  seek 
those  things  which  are  above,  where  Christ  sitteth  on  the 
right  hand  of  God:  set  your  affection  on  the  things  which 
are  above,  and  not  on  the  things  which  are  on  the  earth:  for 
ye  are  dead,  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God:  when 
Christ  who  is  our  life  shall  appear,  then  shall  ye  also  appear 
with  Him  in  glory  "  (Col.  iii.  1-4). 


14 


XXXVII 

THE    SEVEN    LAST    PLAGUES       THE    JUDGMENTS    OF    THE 
LAST   TIMES       XVI    1-2 1 

These  last  judgments  are  called  plagues  in  general,  and 
often  in  special  reference  to  the  plagues  of  Egypt,  by  which 
the  Old  Testament  church  was  delivered  from  that  world- 
power.  The  primary  meaning  of  the  word  is  a  blow  or 
stroke  including  the  idea  of  punishment.  For  the  most  part, 
no  doubt,  these  plagues  are  yet  to  come  upon  the  world,  and 
some  of  them  may  be  in  the  far  distant  future,  so  that  a  per- 
fectly lucid  explanation  is  hardly  to  be  expected  (ii).  In 
fact,  we  shall  find  here  much  of  that  obscurity  we  have  had 
to  deal  with  in  the  more  summary  disclosures  of  the  sixth 
seal,  of  which  this  fifth  series  of  the  revelations  is  a  more 
ample  development  (146).  It  seems  plain,  however,  from 
both  these  visions,  as  well  as  from  other  Scriptural  refer- 
ences to  this  '  day  of  the  Lord  '  (148),  that  it  will  be  attended 
with  great  cosmical  disturbances  and  convulsions  in  the  phys- 
ical world  (149);  all  which,  however,  are  to  be  taken  as 
symbolical  of  moral  and  spiritual  punitory  inflictions;  and 
these  are  not  successive  in  time,  but  cumulative  in  their 
effects  (228). 

I  And  I  heard  a  g^reat  voice  out  of  the  temple  saying  unto  the 
seven  angels,  Go,  and  pour  out  the  seven  chalices  of  the  wrath  of  God 
upon  the  earth. 

This  great  voice  is  to  be  understood  as  that  of  God,  from 
whose  immediate  presence  in  His  heavenly  temple  it  is 
heard,  from  which  also  the  angels  to  whom  it  speaks  have 
just  come.  The  earth  here,  upon  which  all  the  chalices  are 
to  be  poured  out,  includes  both  sea  and  land,  with  fountains 
(314) 


THE  JUDGMENTS  OF  THE  LAST  TIMES  315 

and  rivers,  even  the  sun  and  air,  and  represents  the  whole 
natural  life  of  man  in  its  utter  alienation  from  God  (241). 

2  And  the  first  went,  and  poured  out  his  chalice  upon  the  earth  : 
and  there  came  a  noisome  and  grievous  sore  upon  the  people  that  had 
the  mark  of  the  beast  and  that  worshipped  his  image. 

Here  the  earth  is  evidently  to  be  taken  in  distinction  from 
the  sea,  upon  which  the  second  angel  will  pour  out  his 
chalice.  As  thus  limited,  it  represents  the  natpral  life  of 
man  in  a  limited  sense,  as  distinguished  from  that  Vv-hich 
manifests  itself  in  his  political  organizations  (245).  Those 
who  have  the  mark  of  the  beast  and  who  worship  his  image 
are  primarily  the  members  of  the  church  who  have  been 
fatally  corrupted  by  the  world,  and  secondarily  the  un- 
godly Avorld  at  large  (285).  In  this  judgment  there  is  an 
evident  reference  to  the  sixth  Egyptian  plague,  which  was 
'  a  boil  breaking  forth  with  blains  upon  man  and  upon  beast 
throughout  all  the  land  of  Egypt'  (Ex.  ix.  9);  also  to  Moses' 
prophecy  concerning  Israel,  if  they  should  rebel  against 
God:  ''The  Lord  will  smite  thee  with  the  boil  of  Egypt,  and 
with  tumours,  and  with  the  scurvy,  and  with  the  itch,  whereof 
thou  canst  not  be  healed  .  .  .  from  the  sole  of  thy  foot  unto 
the  crown  of  thy  head"  (Deut.  xxviii.  28-35):  in  which  allu- 
sions both  to  the  Israelites  and  to  the  Egyptians  we  have 
further  evidence  that  this  infliction  includes  those  who  are 
in  the  church  and  out  of  it.  As  to  its  significance,  it  may 
include  physical  maladies,  but  symbolically  it  represents 
judicial  visitations  of  a  moral  and  spiritual  nature,  as  in  the 
words  of  the  prophet :  "  Why  should  ye  be  stricken  any 
more  ?  Ye  will  revolt  more  and  more.  The  whole  head  is 
sick,  and  the  whole  heart  is  faint.  From  the  sole  of  the 
foot  even  unto  the  head,  there  is  no  soundness  in  it,  but 
wounds  and  bruises  and  festering  sores:  they  have  not  been 
closed,  neither  bound  up,  neither  mollified  with  oil  "  (Is.  i. 
5-6).     Such  is  this  first  of  the  seven  last  plagues. 

3  And  the  second  poured  out  his  chalice  upon  the  sea,  and  it  ce- 
came  as  the  blood  of  a  dead  man,  and  every  living  creature,  the  things 
in  the  sea,  died. 

This  judgment  contains  an  equally  significant  allusion  to 


3i6  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

the  first  of  the  Egyptian  plagues,  by  which  the  waters  of  the 
river,  as  also  of  the  streams  and  reservoirs,  were  turned  into 
blood,  and  the  fish  died,  and  the  river  stank,  and  the  people 
could  not  drink  of  it  (Ex.  vii.  19-21).  In  like  manner,  at 
the  sound  of  the  second  trumpet  in  these  visions,  a  third 
part  of  the  sea  became  blood,  and  a  third  part  of  the  crea- 
tures in  it  died  (173).  The  sea  is  the  constant  symbol  of 
national  life;  and  here  it  becomes  as  the  blood  of  a  dead 
man  (which  is  deprived  of  life,  its  organization  being  dis- 
solved), and  all  the  living  creatures  in  it  perish  :  whereby 
it  is  signified  that  under  this  judgment  national  life  becomes 
extinct,  and  all  national  and  municipal  organizations  are  dis- 
solved (174),  having  proved  themselves  incompetent  by  their 
utter  worldliness  to  save  society  from  all-dissolving  corrup- 
tion. Thus  the  way  is  prepared  for  the  kingdoms  of  this 
world  to  become  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  His  Christ 
(228),  when  there  will  be  no  more  sea  (Rev.  xxi.  i). 

4  And  the  third  poured  out  his  chalice  upon  the  rivers  and  fountains 
of  waters,  and  they  became  blood. 

Here  the  allusion  to  the  Egyptian  plague  of  blood  is  con- 
tinued, with  a  parallelism  between  this  judgment  and  that 
of  the  third  trumpet  (174),  under  which  the  rivers  and 
fountains  are  made  bitter.  These  have  the  same  symbolical 
significance  in  both  cases,  namely,  that  of  the  sources  and 
streams  of  spiritual  life,  with  special  reference  to  the  truth 
of  God,  wherein  this  life  originates,  and  whereby  it  is  nour- 
ished (175).  They  are  turned  into  blood,  to  denote  that 
revealed  truth  becomes  so  corrupted  with  pestilent  heresiss 
that  it  is  no  longer  the  nourishment  of  spiritual  life,  but 
rather  a  poison  causing  spiritual  death.  This  judicial  in- 
fliction probably  commences  with  the  death  of  the  two  wit- 
nesses (220);  and  its  fearful  severity  gives  occasion  to  an 
interruption  in  the  orderly  progress  of  the  vision  for  the 
vindication  of  the  divine  justice,  as  follows: 

5  And  I  heard  the  angel  of  the  waters  saying,  Thou  art  just,  who 
art,  and  who  wast,  [yea]  holy,  because  thou  hast  judged  these  things  ; 
6  for  they  hava  shed  the  blaod  of  saints  and  prophets,  and  blood  hast 


THE  JUDGMENTS  OF  THE  LAST  TIMES  317 

thou  given  them  to  drink  :  they  are  worthy.  7  And  I  heard  the  altar 
saying,  Even  so,  O  Lord  God  Almighty,  true  and  just  are  thy  judg- 
ments. 

This  angel  of  the  waters  may  be  compared  with  the  angels 
of  the  winds  in  a  former  vision  (152).  But  the  deeper  mean- 
ing of  the  symbol  must  be  elicited  by  reference  to  those 
instances  of  the  ministry  of  angels  in  communicating  to  man 
messages  of  truth  from  God  which  abound  in  these  visions, 
and  in  all  the  Scriptures;  for  I  think  we  must  regard  this 
angel  as  a  symbolical  representation  and  personification  of 
this  ministry.  The  waters  of  the  rivers  and  fountains  here, 
as  elsewhere  (316),  represent  the  sources  and  streams  of 
spiritual  life  as  originating  in,  and  nourished  by,  the  truths 
of  the  word;  hence  it  is  natural  for  the  angel  who  presides 
over  them  to  be  deeply  interested  in  keeping  them  pure; 
and  when  he  beholds  them  corrupted  by  being  turned  into 
blood,  that  he  should  feel  the  most  poignant  grief.  But  even 
he,  instead  of  murmuring  or  complaining,  adores  the  justice 
and  holiness  of  God  in  this  judicial  infliction,  for  they  who 
suffer  it  are  worthy  to  be  thus  judged:  because  they  have 
shed  the  blood  of  saints  and  prophets,  it  is  most  just  and 
holy  in  God  that  He  should  give  them  blood  to  drink,  that 
their  crimes  should  be  thus  retaliated.  The  formula,  'who 
art,  and  who  wast '  here,  as  in  a  former  case,  is  without  the 
addition,  'and  who  art  to  come'  (229),  apparently  because 
the  Lord  is  regarded  as  having  come  in  these  last  judgments. 
Here  also,  as  in  the  song  of  the  saved  on  the  shore  of  the 
crystal  sea,  the  word  ^ oaioi  'holy  '  is  peculiar  (310),  having 
pointed  reference  to  the  covenant  faithfulness  of  God  in  be- 
half of  the  martyred  saints  and  prophets,  whose  blood  is 
now  so  amply  avenged.  But  what  is  most  striking  and  sig- 
nificant is  this  bold  personification  of  the  altar  of  incense, 
from  which  the  prayers  of  all  the  saints,  with  the  merits 
and  intercessions  of  Christ,  go  up  before  God  (166),  and 
which  is  now  heard  saying  in  articulate  words,  '  Even  so,  O 
Lord  God  Almighty,  true  and  just  are  thy  judgments.'  For 
thus  the  truthfulness  of  God  in  fulfilling  both  His  promises 
and  His  threatenings,  and  His  judgments  as  most   just,  as 


3i8  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

equitably  corresponding  to  the  crimes  of  those  who  are 
judged,  are  vindicated  and  proclaimed  both  in  the  prayers 
of  the  saints  and  in  the  mediation  of  Christ.  And  how 
solemn,  how  wonderful  it  all  is  !  What  a  stroke  of  genius 
it  would  be,  if  it  were  found  in  a  tragedy  of  -^schylus  or 
Sophocles ! 

8  And  the  fourth  poured  out  his  chalice  upon  the  sun :  and  it  was 
given  unto  it  to  scorch  the  people  with  fire  ;  9  and  the  people  were 
scorched  with  a  great  heat  ;  and  they  blasphemed  the  name  of  God, 
[as]  having  authority  over  these  plagues,  and  they  repented  not  to 
give  Him  giory. 

In  the  vision  of  the  fourth  trumpet  the  sun,  being  darken- 
ed, is  regarded  as  the  source  of  light  (176),  but  here  as  the 
source  of  heat,  with  a  different  symbolical  meaning.  For 
its  heat  quickens  and  develops  organic  life,  and  hence  it 
naturally  becomes  the  symbol  of  the  quickening  and  develop- 
ing influence  in  spiritual  life.  But  when  it  is  received  under 
unfavorable  conditions,  it  becomes  destructive,  as  in  our 
Lord's  parable.  "  When  the  sun  was  up,  they  were  scorched, 
and  because  they  had  no  root,  they  withered  away  "  (Mat. 
xiii.  6).  Here  this  destructive  heat  scorches  the  people; 
which  signifies  that,  as  in  the  preceding  plague  the  streams 
of  revealed  truth  became  corrupt,  nauseous,  and  pernicious, 
so  in  this  one  the  influence  which  quickens  the  good  seed  in 
the  good  ground,  scorches  and  withers  that  which  has  fallen 
upon  a  rock.  For  both  these  benign  influences,  the  word 
and  that  which  quickens  it,  where  they  are  not  '  a  savor  of 
life  unto  life,'  do  necessarily  become  '  a  savor  of  death  unto 
death  '  (2  Cor.  ii.  15).  Hence  they  upon  whom  this  scorch- 
ing judgment  falls  do  not  repent,  nor  give  glory  to  God,  but 
blaspheme  His  name,  charging  Him  with  injustice  and 
cruelty,  'as  having  authority  over  these  plagues':  an  awful 
picture  of  judicial  impenitence  ! 

10  And  the  fifth  poured  out  his  chalice  upon  the  throne  of  the 
beast :  and  his  kingdom  w^as  darkened ;  and  they  gnawed  their 
tongues  for  pain,  11  and  blasphemed  the  God  of  heaven,  because  of 
their  pains  and  their  sores,  and  repented  not  of  their  works. 

In  this  judgment  there  is  an  allusion  to  the  ninth  Egyp- 


THE  JUDGMENTS  OF  THE  LAST  TIMES  31^ 

tian  plague,  that  of  darkness  over  the  whole  land  (Ex.  x.  21- 
23);  and  it  is  to  be  compared  with  that  of  the  fourth  trum- 
pet (176),  also  with  the  fifth,  which  represents  the  torments 
of  human  life  as  the  judgments  of  God  (183).  This  beast, 
from  the  mention  of  'his  throne  and  kingdom,'  which  he  re- 
ceives from  the  dragon  (245),  appears  to  be  the  one  that  rises 
out  of  the  sea,  representing  antichristian  secular  power;  yet 
those  upon  whom  this  judgment  falls  are  identified  by  their 
sores  with  the  subjects  of  the  second  beast,  as  in  the  first 
plague  (315);  which  is  to  be  explained  by  the  synthesis  estab- 
lished between  these  two  forms  of  antichristianity  (285). 
Under  this  judicial  infliction  'the  kingdom  of  the  beast  is 
darkened';  which  denotes  that  his  subjects,  both  in  and  out 
of  the  church,  suffer  a  terrible  obscuration  of  their  intellect- 
ual and  moral  faculties,  great  confusion  and  distraction  of 
mind,  as  in  the  following:  "  The  Lord  will  smite  thee  with 
madness  and  with  blindness  and  with  astonishment  of  heart 
(Deut.  xxviiii.  28).  He  that  walketh  in  darkness  knoweth 
not  whither  he  goeth  "  (John  xii.  35).  For  in  this  judicial 
blindness  men  are  deprived  of  all  right  knowledge  of  God 
and  divine  things;  they  lose  all  consciousness  of  their  sins 
as  the  true  cause  of  their  miseries  and  torments;  and  these 
they  ascribe  to  God,  regarding  Him  as  a  malignant  and 
cruel  being.  Hence  it  is  added  that  they  repent  not  of  their 
works,  but  blaspheme  the  God  of  heaven,  and  gnaw  their 
tongues;  which  last  is  an  expression  of  raging  passion,  as 
well  as  of  intolerable  torment:  another  awful  image  of  judi- 
cial impenitence  ! 

12  And  the  sixth  poured  out  his  chalice  upon  the  great  river  Eu- 
phrates :  and  the  water  thereof  was  dried  up,  that  the  way  of  the 
kings  from  the  east  might  be  prepared. 

This  in  some  respects  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  symbols 
in  the  book,  yet  we  are  not  left  without  some  glimpses  of  its 
meaning.  For  the  city  of  Babylon  drew  her  support  and 
nourishment  mainly  from  the  Euphrates,  from  which  that 
whole  region  was  irrigated  and  made  fertile  by  a  vast  system 
of   canals  and   artificial  water-courses:  also,   it  was   by  an 


320 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


assault  from  the  river,  the  water  of  which  had  been  pre- 
viously drawn  off  into  reservoirs,  that  the  city  was  taken, 
and  the  empire  subverted,  by  Cyrus  the  Persian,  whose  king- 
dom lay  to  the  east  of  Babylonia.  Hence  we  may  under- 
stand that  this  drying  up  of  the  Euphrates  represents  the 
withdrawal  of  all  the  sources  of  support,  wealth,  and  life 
from  the  great  antichristian  world-power,  of  which  Babylon 
is  the  constant  symbol;  also  the  laying  bare  of  this  power  to 
overthrow  and  destruction  (278),  as  the  water  of  the  river 
was  drawn  off  by  Cyrus  to  prepare  his  way  for  a  successful 
assault  upon  the  city.  For  we  shall  see  hereafter  that  this 
great  world-power  becom.es  divided  (Rev.  xvi.  19),  and  cer- 
tain kings,  or  political  powers,  take  part  in  its  overthrow 
(xvii.  12-18);  and  these,  it  seems,  are  here  called  'the  kings 
from  the  east,'  in  allusion  to  the  capture  of  Babylon  by  an 
eastern  king,  and  perhaps  to  signify  that  the  destruction  of 
this  power  will  come  from  the  primary  source  of  light  and  life, 
as  we  have  seen  that  the  great  angel  who  seals  the  servants 
of  God  comes  up  from  the  east  (153). 

13  And  I  saw,  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  dragon,  and  out  of  the 
mouth  of  the  beast,  and  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  false  prophet,  14  three 
unclean  spirits,  as  it  w^ere  frogs  ;  for  they  are  the  spirits  of  devils, 
working  signs,  which  go  forth  upon  the  kings  of  the  whole  world,  to 
gather  them  together  unto  the  battle  of  the  great  day  of  God  Al- 
mighty. 

We  have  here  again  the  synthesis  of  these  three  forms  of 
antichristianity;  for  this  beast  is  still  the  one  that  rises  out 
of  the  sea,  and  receives  his  kingdom  and  throne  from  the 
dragon  (245);  whilst  the  second  beast  is  here  designated  by 
'the  false  prophet,'  as  is  evident  from  the  fact,  that  the  same 
signs  and  works  are  attributed  to  both.  For  of  this  latter 
beast  it  has  been  said  that  '  he  doeth  great  signs  .  .  .  and 
he  deceiveth  them  that  dwell  upon  the  earth  by  the  signs 
which  were  given  unto  him  to  do'  (254);  and  of  the  false 
prophet  it  will  be  said  hereafter  that  '  he  wrought  the  signs 
.  .  .  wherewith  he  deceived  them  that  had  the  mark  of  the 
beast'  (Rev.  xix.  20).  This  equivalent  characterization  and 
other  correspondences  leave  no  doubt  as  to  their  identity,  and 


THE  JUDGMENTS  OF  THE  LAST  TIMES  32 1 

accordingly  it  has  been  recognized  by  all  the  commentators. 
But  wh}^  this  new  name  of  *  false  prophet '  ?  Evidently  it  is 
introduced  here  and  continued  in  the  succeeding  visions  for 
the  purpose  of  giving  a  more  ample  development  to  the  idea 
of  antichristianity  in  the  church  as  a  worker  of  pretended 
miracles  to  deceive  mankind  (254),  in  fulfilment  of  the  Lord's 
prophecy:  "  There  will  arise  false  Christs  and  false  prophets, 
and  they  wmII  give  signs  and  wonders  unto  the  deceiving,  if 
possible,  even  the  elect "  (Mat.  xxiv.  24).  And  now  there  are 
seen  to  come  forth  out  of  the  mouths  of  the  dragon,  the 
beast  out  of  the  sea,  and  the  beast  out  of  the  earth,  or  false 
prophet,  'three  unclean  spirits,'  'spirits  of  devils,'  or  demons, 
like  frogs  for  their  filthiness  and  obscenity;  which,  since  no 
distinction  is  made  between  them  in  their  operations,  and  in 
accordance  with  the  established  synthesis  of  these  three  an- 
tichristian  powers,  must  be  understood  to  represent  the 
inmost  essence  and  most  deadly  virus  of  antichristianity, 
especially  in  the  form  of  false  teachings,  'doctrines  of  devils* 
(i  Tim.  iv.  i),  confirmed  by  these  pretended  miracles.  This 
baleful  influence  takes  effect  upon  the  kings,  or  secular 
powers  of  the  whole  world,  including  their  subjects,  to  gather 
them  together  unto  the  battle  of  the  great  day  of  God  Al- 
mighty; in  which  He  will  show  Himself  to  be  the  omnipo- 
tent All-Ruler  by  their  overthrow  and  utter  destruction. 
The  particulars  of  this  final  conflict  will  be  given  in  a  sub- 
sequent vision. 

15  Behold,  I  come  as  a  thief:  blessed  is  he  that  watcheth,  and 
keepeth  his  garments,  lest  he  walk  naked,  and  they  see  his  shame. 

The  signal  character  of  the  preceding  disclosure  gives  oc- 
casion to  this  interjected  admonition  from  the  Lord  to  His 
people,  that  they  must  be  ever  on  the  watch  for  His  coming, 
which  is  always  as  a  thief  in  the  night  (84),  and  that  they 
keep  themselves  in  purity,  lest  they  should  be  deceived  by 
the  falsities  and  involved  in  the  impurities  of  these  spirits 
of  devils  (85). 

16  And  they  gathered  them  together  unto  a  place  that  is  called  in 
Hebrew  Harmagedon. 

14* 


322  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YFSE 

The  most  probable  interpretation  of  this  Hebrew  name  is, 
either  'the  place  of  a  multitudinous  rabble,'  or  'the  place  of 
the  overthrow  of  their  host,'  and  it  may  contain  allusions  to 
both  of  these  ideas.  For  etymologically  it  signifies  Mount- 
Magedon,  or  Megiddo,  which  was  the  scene  of  the  overthrow 
of  the  tumultuous  host  of  the  Canaanites  under  Sisera  by 
Deborah  and  Barak,  as  celebrated  in  the  triumphant  song  of 
the  prophetess: 

The  kings  came  and  fought : 

Then  fought  the  kings  of  Canaan, 

In  Tdanach  by  the  waters  of  Megiddo. 

They  took  no  gain  of  money  [booty]. 

They  fought  from  heaven  [against  them]  ; 

The  stars  in  their  courses  fought  against  Sisera. 

The  river  Kishon  swept  them  away, 

That  ancient  river,  the  river  Kishon  (Judges  v.  19-20). 

It  was  by  this  river  also  that  Elijah  slew  Jezebel's  false 
prophets,  and  purified  Israel  from  the  idolatry  of  Baal  (i  Ki. 
xviii.  40).  From  these  and  other  indications  we  may  gather 
that  this  name  symbolizes  the  overthrow  and  destruction  of 
the  tumultuous  hosts  of  'the  kings 'who  have  been  deceived 
by  the  teachings  and  signs  of  the  false  prophet. 

17  And  the  seventh  poured  out  his  chalice  upon  the  air  :  and  there 
came  a  great  voice  out  of  the  temple  from  the  throne,  saying,  It  is 
done.  18  And  there  were  lightnings  and  voices  and  thunders  ;  and 
there  was  a  great  earthquake,  such  as  was  not  since  there  was  a  man 
upon  the  earth,  such  an  earthquake,  so  great.  19  And  the  great  city 
was  divided  into  three  parts,  and  the  cities  of  the  nations  fell :  and 
Babylon  the  Great  was  remembered  before  God,  to  give  unto  her  the 
cup  of  the  wine  of  the  anger  of  His  wrath.  20  And  every  island  fled, 
and  mountains  were  not  found  :  21  and  great  hail,  as  of  the  weight  of 
a  talent,  came  down  from  heaven  upon  the  people,  and  the  people  blas- 
phemed God,  because  of  the  plague  of  the  hail,  for  great  was  the 
plague  thereof  exceedingly. 

The  air,  being  the  breath  of  life  and  everywhere  diffused, 
may  be  understood  as  the  universal  life-sphere  of  mankind. 
It  is  represented  as  empoisoned  by  this  chalice  of  wrath,  to 
denote  that  the  old  Adamic  life  now  comes  to  an  end  in  prep- 
aration for  the  incoming  of  the  new  heaven  and  the  new 
earth.     Hence  a  great  voice  is  now  heard  coming  out  of  the 


THE  JUDGMENTS  OF  THE  LAST  TIMES  323 

temple  from  the  throne  of  God,  saying,  'It  is  done';  which 
recalls  the  last  words  of  the  Lord  upon  the  cross,  'It  is  fin- 
ished '  (John  xix.  30),  for  in  both  cases  is  the  wrath  of  God 
accomplished.  This  final  execution  of  the  divine  justice  is 
accompanied  with  '  lightnings  and  voices  and  thunders  \\\\'), 
and  with  an  unparalleled  earthquake,  or  trembling  of  the 
physical  universe,  the  same  with  that  of  the  sixth  seal  (146); 
the  elements  and  forces  of  nature  are  thrown  into  preter- 
natural commotion  and  convulsions,  thus  symbolizing  the 
mental  agitation  and  confusion,  and  the  subversion  to  their 
foundations  of  all  human  institutions  and  relations,  which 
this  judgment  produces.  Moreover,  the  great  city  of  this 
world,  the  great  antichristian  world-power  (222),  is  divided 
into  three  parts,  apparently  with  reference  to  its  dissolution 
hereafter  to  be  described,  when  God  will  put  it  into  the 
hearts  of  certain  kings  who  are  a  part  of  it  to  turn  against 
and  overthrow  it  (Rev.  xvii.  16).  The  fall  of  the  cities  of 
the  nations,  also  its  elements  and  branches,  completes  this 
general  outline  of  its  utter  destruction,  the  particulars  of 
which  v/ill  be  given  hereafter.  Thus  Babylon  the  Great  is 
remembered  before  God,  and  all  her  abominations  of  idola- 
try, lust,  and  cruelty  in  shedding  the  blood  of  saints  and 
prophets,  are  judged  and  punished.  God  now  gives  her  to 
drink  of  'the  cup  of  the  wine  of  the  anger  of  His  wrath': 
these  cumulative  repetitions  expressing  with  the  utmost 
energy  the  rigor  of  her  punishment,  and  the  world-compre- 
hensiveness of  her  overthrow.  And  this  idea  is  still  further 
developed  by  the  islands  fleeing  away,  and  the  mountains 
not  being  found,  to  signify  that  all  things  most  stable  and 
immovable  in  man's  earthly  life  are  subverted  (147);  and  by 
the  great  hail  that  falls  from  heaven,  in  allusion  to  the 
Egyptian  plague  of  hail  (Ex.  ix.  23-26),  and  to  the  following: 
"The  Lord  cast  down  great  stones  from  heaven  upon  them 
.  .  .  and  they  died:  they  were  more  who  died  with  the  hail- 
stones than  they  whom  the  sons  of  Israel  slew  with  the 
sword"  (Joshua  x.  .11).  Here  the  hailstones  are  'of  the 
weight  of  a  talent,'  about  50  lbs.,  60  times  that  of  a  mina, 
which  last  is  mentioned  by  a  Greek  author  as  enormous  for 


324 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


the  weight  of  hail.  Yet  the  people  upon  whom  this  inflic- 
tion falls  do  not  repent,  but  blaspheme  God,  as  the  unjust 
and  merciless  author  of  their  sufferings:  from  all  which  it  is 
plain  that  this  seventh  and  last  plague,  whatever  further 
symbolical  meaning  may  be  gathered  from  it,  represents  the 
destruction  from  the  earth  of  the  incorrigibly  rebellious,  as 
a  necessary  means  to  the  unveiling  and  realization  of  the 
glories  of  the  New  Jerusalem. 

Here  this  fifth  series  of  the  revelations  of  the  book  comes 
to  an  end;  and,  like  those  which  precede,  it  runs  on  to  the 
close  of  the  dispensation  in  great  and  awful  judgments 
(202).  In  such  wise  is  'the  mystery  of  God,'  in  dealing  with 
the  evil  that  is  in  the  world,  accomplished.  And  it  is  for  us, 
however  we  may  weep  over  the  necessity  of  these  judg- 
ments, to  rejoice  and  give  thanks  that  this  evil  shall  cease  at 
last,  and  the  Lord  will  reign  in  grace  and  love  and  glory 
over  all  the  redeemed,  i.  e.  in  all  human  souls  that  shall  over- 
come in  their  conflicts  with  it,  and  shall  come  safely  through 
*  the  great  tribulation  '  (160). 


XXXVIII 

BABYLON  AS  A  HARLOT     SPIRITUAL  ADULTERY      XVII    I-18 

This  vision  commences  the  sixth  series  of  these  revelations, 
which,  like  the  preceding,  may  be  regarded  as  sevenfold, 
although  this  is  by  no  means  so  distinctly  marked  as  in  the 
former.  The  following,  however,  are  the  most  salient  ideas  : 
(i)  The  harlotry  and  destruction  of  Babylon  ;  (2)  the  deliv- 
erance of  the  true  church  from  her  power  ;  (3)  the  rejoicing 
in  heaven  over  this  deliverance  ;  (4)  the  Lord  as  conquering 
King  ;  (5)  the  binding  of  Satan  and  the  Lord's  millennial 
reign  ;  (6)  the  loosing  of  Satan  and  the  final  conflict ; 
(7)  the  resurrection  and  judgment  of  the  dead.  We  shall 
meet  here  with  some  of  our  greatest  difficulties  from  the 
fact,  that  what  is  symbolized  is  mostly  in  the  dim  future, 
and  the  symbols  are  deeply  involved  with  preceding  ones 
and  with  each  other :  difficulties  which  might  be  insur- 
mountable, if  the  Apocalyptist  had  not  been  so  careful  to 
put  into  our  hands  certain  guiding  clews  to  enable  us  to 
thread  the  dark  labyrinths  of  his  visions. 

I  And  there  came  one  of  the  seven  angels  that  had  the  seven 
chalices,  and  spake  with  me,  saying,  Come  hither,  I  will  show  thee 
the  judgment  of  the  great  harlot  that  sitteth  upon  many  waters  ;  2 
with  whom  the  kings  of  the  earth  committed  fornication,  and  the  in- 
habitants of  the  earth  were  made  drunken  with  the  wine  of  her  forni- 
cation. 

As  the  seals  open  into  the  trumpets,  and  the  trumpets  into 
the  plagues,  so  this  series  of  visions  is  connected  with  the 
preceding  by  the  ministry  of  one  of  these  angels  (307);  an- 
other reason  for  which  is,  that  it  contains  a  full  development 
of  what  has  just  been  given  in  a  brief  summary  (323).     The 

(325) 


326  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCaLYPSE 

angel  speaks  of  '  the  harlot '  and  of  '  many  waters,'  in  some 
good  manuscripts,  '  the  many  waters,'  as  if  these  were  fami- 
liar images,  for  which  there  are  two  reasons  :  (i)  This  har- 
lot woman,  who  now  appears  for  the  first  time,  is  another 
symbol  of  the  same  antichristian  world-power  that  has 
been  hitherto  represented  by  the  harlot  city  Babylon,  whose 
name  she  bears  on  her  forehead,  and  who  is  addressed  by 
one  of  the  prophets  in  the  words,  '  O  thou  that  dwellest 
upon  many  waters  '  (Jer.  li.  13),  in  allusion  to  the  Euphrates 
upon  which  the  city  was  built,  and  to  the  vast  system  of 
artificial  watercourses  by  which  the  surrounding  country 
was  irrigated  (320).  The  symbolical  meaning  of  these  waters 
will  be  explained  by  the  angel  at  the  close  of  this  vision. 
(2)  Another  reason  why  '  the  harlot '  is  here  introduced  as  a 
familiar  image  is,  that  Babylon,  with  which  she  is  identified, 
has  been  characterized  as  having  '  made  all  the  nations  to 
drink  of  the  wine  of  the  rage  of  her  fornication  '  (274). 
Moreover,  the  significant  fact,  that  the  city  now  disappears 
for  a  time,  and  in  its  place  we  have  a  woman  bearing  the 
same  name,  makes  it  evident  that  the  antichristian  world- 
power  has  undergone  a  change,  and  reappears  under  modi- 
fied conditions  :  and  the  whole  symbolization,  both  here  and 
elsewhere,  requires  us  to  understand  that  what  is  now  to  be 
represented  is  the  world  in  the  church,  or  the  church  in 
adulterous  union  with  the  world  ;  for  this  is  the  plain  mean- 
ing of  the  image  of  harlotry  in  18  out  of  the  21  places  in 
Scripture  where  it  occurs,  in  some  of  which  it  is  developed 
at  great  length  and  with  almost  unrivalled  force  of  expres- 
sion (Ez.  xvi.). 

3  And  he  carried  me  away  in  the  Spi'it  into  a  wilderness  :  and  I 
saw  a  woman  sitting  upon  a  scarlet  beast  full  of  the  names  of  blas- 
phemy, having  seven  heads  and  ten  horns. 

In  a  state  of  spiritual  ecstasy  produced  by  the  influence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  (26)  he  is  transported  into  this  wilderness, 
which  is  evidently  different  from  that  one  into  which  we 
have  seen  the  martyr  church  borne  on  the  wings  of  the  great 
eagle  (240);   for  it  seems  to  be  an   image  of  the  desolation 


SPIRITUAL  ADULTERY  327 

wrought  upon  earth  by  the  malign  influence  of  the  harlot 
and  of  the  beast  on  which  she  rides.  Moreover,  this  beast  is 
clearly  identified  with  the  one  that  rises  out  of  the  sea  (244), 
representing  antichristian  political  power,  by  his  seven  heads 
and  ten  horns  and  by  his  names  of  blasphemy.  But  he  too 
has  undergone  significant  modifications  ;  for  he  has  become 
of  a  scarlet  or  blood  color,  and  thus  more  closely  assimi- 
lated to  the  great  red  dragon  from  whom  his  power  is  de- 
rived; his  names  of  blasphemy  have  spread  from  his  heads 
over  his  whole  body  (244);  and  he  has  lost  his  diadems 
through  subjection  to  the  woman  who  rides  upon  him. 
Thus  we  have  pictorially  and  prophetically  represented  the 
subjection  of  the  temporal  powers  to  the  corrupt  spiritual 
power  of  the  church,  the  great  increase  of  cruelty  and  bloody 
persecution  which  resulted  from  it  (248),  and  of  blasphemy 
against  the  Lord  Christ  by  the  perpetration  of  these  crimes 
in  His  name  (254):  all  which  was  abundantly  realized  during 
the  middle  ages  in  the  relations  that  subsisted  between  the 
church  of  Rome  and  the  secular  powers  of  Europe.  Thus 
also  a  striking  contrast  is  implied  between  the  true  church 
and  this  harlot  corruption  of  it ;  for  the  former  is  always 
represented  as  oppressed  and  persecuted  by  the  worldly  pow- 
ers, whilst  here  the  latter,  by  her  adulterous  union  with  them, 
obtains  control  over  them,  and  renders  them  subservient  to 
her  luxury  and  persecuting  spirit,  as  the  harlot  becomes  the 
'  mistress  '  of  her  lovers.  With  what  wonderful  precision 
are  all  these  ideas  and  historical  facts  here  symbolized  ! 

4  And  the  woman  •was  arrayed  in  purple  aud  scarlet,  and  w^as 
decked  with  gold  and  precious  stones  and  pearls  ;  having  in  her  hand 
a  golden  cup  full  of  abominations  and  the  uncleannesses  of  her  forni- 
cation ;  5  and  upon  her  forehead  a  name  written,  a  mystery:  BABY- 
LON THE  GREAT  THE  MOTHER  OF  HARLOTS  AND  OF  THE 
ABOMINATIONS   OF  THE  EARTH. 

The  harlot  church  is  arrayed  in  purple  to  denote  the  royal 
temporal  authority  which  she  has  acquired  by  her  rdulter- 
oas  union  with  the  secular  powers,  as  exemplified  in  the 
papacy;  also  in  scarlet,  or  blood  color,  like  the  beast  on 
whica  she  rides,  to  express  her  persecuting  spirit  and  char- 


228  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

acter.  The  ornaments  wherewith  she  is  decked  are  the  pre- 
cious things  with  which  she  was  formerly  enriched  and  beau- 
tified by  her  celestial  Spouse,  when  she  was  His  pure  and 
honored  wife,  but  which  she  has  now  perverted  and  pro- 
faned to  the  uses  of  her  meretricious  solicitations,  as  in  the 
prophet  : 

I  decked  thee  also  with  ornaments, 

And  I  put  bracelets  upon  thy  hands, 

And  a  chain  upon  thy  neck  .  .  . 

And  a  beautiful  crown  upon  thy  head. 

Thou  wast  decked  with  gold  and  silver, 

And  thy  raiment  was  of  fine  linen 

And  silk  and  broidered  work.  .  .  . 

And  thou  wast  exceeding  beautiful.  .  .  . 

And  thy  renown  went  forth  among  the  nations  for  thy  beauty ; 

For  it  was  perfect  through  my  majesty  which  I  had  put  upon  thee  .  .  . 

But  thou  didst  trust  in  thy  beauty, 

And  playedst  the  harlot  because  of  thy  renown, 

And  pouredst  forth  thy  harlotries  on  every  one  that  passed  by.  .  .  . 

Thou  didst  also  take  thy  fair  jewels  of  my  gold 

And  silver,  which  I  had  given  thee, 

And  madest  for  thee  images  of  men, 

And  didst  play  the  harlot  with  them  (Ez.  xvi.  10-18). 

In  like  manner,  the  'golden  cup,'  which,  in  the  hand  of  the 
true  church,  and  filled  with  sacramental  wine,  is  the  symbol 
of  the  holiest  consecration  and  fellowship,  is  here,  in  the 
hand  of  the  harlot,  filled  with  abominations  and  the  filthi- 
nesses  of  her  fornication,  to  signify  that  the  apostate  church 
profanes  all  her  holiest  things  by  her  sacrilegious  fellowship 
with,  and  conformity  unto,  the  world.  In  fine,  the  name 
Babylon  upon  her  forehead  is  '  a  mystery,'  i.  e.  a  name  of 
mystical  or  symbolical  import,  to  denote  that  she  is  only  an- 
other form  or  manifestation  of  the  same  antichristian  world- 
power  hitherto  represented  by  the  harlot  city:  and  she  is  the 
mother  of  harlots  and  abominations,  to  denote  that  the  spir- 
itual harlotry  of  the  church  corrupted  by  the  world  is  of  the 
grossest  character,  and  the  source  of  the  most  abominable 
sexual  impurities,  as  exemplified  in  the  Protestant  church 
by  the  frequency  of  divorces,  and  in  the  Roman  by  the  licen- 
tiousness arising  from  the  enforced  celibacy  of  the  clergy, 
especially  when   they  were  formally  allowed   to   keep  their 


SPIRITUAL  ADULTERY  329 

mistresses  by  paying  the  regulation  tax  on  the  connection 
to  their  prince-bishops. 

6  And  I  saw  the  woman  drunken  w^ith  the  blood  of  the  saints,  and 
with  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  of  Jesus ;  and  seeing  her  I  wondered 
with  a  great  wonder. 

The  world-power  in  the  church  has  lost  nothing  of  itb 
enmity  and  persecuting  spirit ;  on  the  contrary,  this  is  aggra- 
vated and  intensified,  so  that  the  harlot  church  makes  her- 
self drunken  with  the  blood  of  the  saints  and  martyrs ; 
which  also  has  been  abundantly  exemplified  in  persecutions 
by  the  papacy  (254).  The  whole  symbol  excites  the  wonder 
of  the  Seer,  which,  as  expressed  in  his  face,  brings  to  his  aid 
the  angel  of  the  vision,  who  interprets  it  for  him,  though 
still  in  highly  symbolical  language. 

7  And  the  angel  said  unto  me,  Wherefore  didst  thou  w^onder  ?  I 
vi\\\  tell  thee  the  mystery  of  the  w^oman,  and  of  the  beast  that  bears 
her,  w^hich  hath  the  seven  heads  and  the  ten  horns. 

The  woman  and  the  beast  constitute  one  mystery,  or  sym- 
bolical representation,  as  representing  the  church  and  the 
world  in  union. 

8  The  beast  which  thou  sawest  was,  and  is  not,  and  is  about  to  come 
up  out  of  the  abyss,  and  he  goeth  into  perdition  :  and  they  who  dwell 
upon  the  earth  shall  wonder,  whose  names  have  not  been  written  in  the 
book  of  life  from  the  foundation  of  the  world,  seeing  the  beast  that  he 
was,  and  is  not,  and  is  yet  to  come. 

This  obscure  symbolization  finds  its  solution  in  the  con- 
ception of  the  beast  as  representing  antichristian  secular 
power  ;  for  the  expression  *  was,  and  is  not,'  has  reference  to 
this  power  as  formerly  existing  in  Egypt,  Babylon,  and  other 
pagan  world  empires,  but  which  no  longer  existed  ;  and  this 
reference  will  become  still  further  evident  in  the  sequel. 
But  he  '  is  about  to  come  '  again,  and  that  under  a  truly  dia- 
bolical form,  as  'out  of  the  abyss';  which  took  place  when 
the  secular  powers,  having  ceased  from  persecution  under 
Constantine  and  his  immediate  successors,  became  the  ser- 


330 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


vile  instruments  of  the  harlot  church  unto  renewed  persecu- 
tions. The  meaning  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  healing  of 
the  beast's  deadly  wound  (246).  His  '  going  into  perdition  ' 
evidently  refers  to  the  issue  of  the  great  conflict  previous  to 
the  millennium,  when,  as  we  shall  see,  '  the  beast  is  taken 
.  .  .  and  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire  '  (Rev.  xix.  20),  denoting 
the  utter  destruction  of  all  antichristian  secular  power  (323). 
The  wonder  of  the  earth-dwellers,  '  whose  names  have  not 
been  written  in  the  book  of  life  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world  '  (249),  doubtless  partakes  of  the  nature  of  idolatrous 
worship  (247);  but  here  it  seems  to  have  for  its  special  ob- 
ject this  marvellous  persistence  of  life  in  the  beast  under 
such  diverse  conditions  and  adverse  circumstances. 

9  Here  is  the  mind  that  hath  wisdom.  The  seven  heads  are  seven 
mountains,  upon  which  the  woman  sitteth,  10  and  are  seven  kings  : 
five  are  fallen,  one  is,  the  other  is  not  yet  come ;  and  when  he  cometh 
he  must  continue  a  little  while  :  11  and  the  beast  that  was,  and  is  not, 
he  also  is  the  eighth,  and  is  of  the  seven,  and  he  goeth  into  perdition. 

Here  is  the  [place  for  the]  mind  that  hath  wisdom,  i.  e.  to 
understand  this  very  involved  symbol  (256).  For  the  woman 
whom  we  have  just  seen  riding  upon  the  beast  is  now  repre- 
sented as  sitting  upon  seven  mountains,  in  evident  allusion 
to  those  upon  which  the  city  of  Rome  was  built,  which  was 
celebrated  by  the  poets  and  historians  as  '  the  seven-hilled 
city,'  and  was  at  that  time  the  seat  of  the  great  antichristian 
world-power.  The  seven  heads  of  the  beast,  which  primarily 
symbolized  the  fulness  of  his  wisdom  as  the  subtlety  of  the 
serpent  (235),  are  here  taken  more  concretely  to  represent  the 
site  of  the  existing  world-empire,  and  hence  of  that  empire 
itself,  which,  of  course,  was  wholly  governed  and  adminis- 
tered by  worldly  wisdom.  Moreover,  the  interpreting  angel 
sees  in  these  seven  heads  even  a  larger  significance,  that  of 
'  seven  kings,'  or  world-empires,  five  of  which  have  ceased  to 
exist,  one  is,  and  one  is  yet  to  come,  which  may  be  enumerated 
as  follows  :  (i)  The  Egyptian,  (2)  the  old  Assyrian,  of  which 
Nineveh  was  the  capital,  (3)  the  later  Assyrian  or  Babylonian, 
(4)  the  Medo-Persian,  (5)  the  Macedonian  or  Grecian,  (6)  that 


SPIRITUAL  ADULTERY 


331 


of  pagan  Rome,  (7)  that  of  papal  Rome,  regarded  as  a  tem- 
poral or  secular  power.  At  the  time  of  these  visions  the  first 
five  of  these  had  fallen  or  ceased  to  exist,  that  of  pagan 
Rome  was  in  its  power  and  glory,  and  that  of  papal  Rome 
was  yet  to  come  ;  when  it  should  '  continue  a  little  while,'  as 
the  temporal  power  of  the  papacy  has  come  to  an  end  in  our 
time.  In  fine,  the  words,  '  the  beast  that  was,  and  is  not,  he 
also  is  the  eighth,  and  he  goeth  into  perdition,'  we  may  under- 
stand in  the  sense,  that  the  beast  represents  the  substance 
and  spirit  of  the  seven,  and  that  he  contains  in  himself  what 
is  destined  to  develop  into  an  eighth  form  of  antichristian 
secular  power,  perhaps  an  all-comprehending  godless  de- 
mocracy, in  which  political  antichristianity  may  hereafter  be 
summed  up  and  concentrated,  before  it  shall  go  into  ever- 
lasting perdition. 

12  And  the  ten  horns  which  thou  sawest  are  ten  kings  who  have 
not  yet  received  kingdoms ;  but  they  receive  authority  as  kings  one 
hour  with  the  beast.  13  These  have  one  mind,  and  they  give  their 
power  and  authority  unto  the  beast.  14  These  will  w^ar  with  the 
Lamb,  and  the  Lamb  will  overcome  them ;  for  He  is  Lord  of  lords  and 
King  of  kings ;  and  they  that  are  with  Him  are  called  and  chosen  and 
faithful. 

These  ten  horns  of  the  beast,  which  primarily  symbolized 
antichristian  political  power  as  definitely  limited  (235),  are 
also  taken  here  more  concretely,  to  represent  '  ten  kings,' 
i.  e.  not  world-empires,  as  in  the  case  of  the  seven  heads, 
but  minor  political  organizations,  which  had  not  then  come 
into  existence,  and  which  must  be  understood  as  those  that 
arose  on  the  ruins  of  the  Roman  empire,  and  probably  others 
yet  to  come.  For  it  would  seem  that  this  number  '  ten  '  is 
not  to  be  taken  strictly  here,  but  rather  in  the  symbolical 
sense  of  limitation  (59).  These  kings  receive  authority  with 
the  beast,  and  are  all  of  one  mind  to  bestow  it  upon  him,  i.  e. 
to  exercise  it  in  his  service  ;  in  other  words,  they  are  essen- 
tially of  the  world,  with  none  but  worldly  objects,  wholly 
governed  by  worldly  wisdom,  and  hence  are  antichristian  in 
their  true  character  and  influence  ;   for  political  powers,  no 


332 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


less  than  individual  souls,  that  are  not  with  the  Lord,  are 
against  Him,  and  doomed  to  destruction  : 

The  nation  and  kingdom  that  will  not  serve  thee  shall  perish  ; 
Yea,  those  nations  shall  be  utterly  wasted  (Is.  Ix.  12). 

This  idea  is  still  further  developed  in  the  statement,  that 
'  they  will  war  with  the  Lamb,  and  the  Lamb  will  overcome 
them  ;  for  He  is  Lord  of  lords  and  King  of  kings';  which  is 
often  repeated,  and  always  implies  that  He  will  subdue  all 
the  political  powers,  and  destroy  them  as  antichristian,  or 
cause  them  to  acknowledge  and  serve  Him  as  their  true  head 
and  Lord  paramount.  Moreover,  the  time  of  their  warfare 
against  Him  will  be  short,  being  here  prophetically  measured 
as  '  one  hour.'  For  His  victory  over  them  is  made  swift  and 
sure  by  the  character  of  those  whom  He  leads  in  the  battle, 
who  are  not  only  the  '  called,'  but  also  '  chosen  and  faithful ': 
"  For  many  are  called,  but  few  are  chosen  "  (Mat.  xxii. 
14).     These  ideas  will  be  copiously  unfolded  in  the  sequel. 

15  And  he  saith  unto  me,  The  waters  which  thou  sawest,  where 
the  harlot  sitteth,  are  peoples  and  multitudes  and  nations  and  tongues. 

Here  the  symbolization  returns  to  the  harlot  as  sitting 
upon  *  the  many  waters,'  which  the  angel  interprets  in  the 
sense  of  all  the  nations  of  the  world  and  their  populations, 
the  enumeration  of  four  particulars  having  its  constant  sym- 
bolical meaning  of  universality.  The  same  idea  is  repre- 
sented by  her  sitting  upon  the  beast  of  antichristian  political 
power,  just  as  we  have  seen  all  this  exemplified  in  the  vast 
temporal  dominion  of  the  papacy. 

16  And  the  ten  horns  which  thou  saw^est  and  the  beast,  these  shall 
hate  the  harlot,  and  shall  make  her  desolate  and  naked,  and  shall  eat 
her  flesh,  and  burn  her  up  with  fire  :  17  for  God  hath  put  it  into  their 
hearts  to  do  His  mind,  and  to  be  of  one  mind,  and  to  give  their  king- 
doms unto  the  beast,  until  the  words  of  God  shall  be  accomplished. 

In  this  striking  sym.bol  we  have  represented  the  ultimate 
consequences  to  the  harlot  church  of  her  adulterous  union 
with  the  world,  in  that  her  lovers  themselves  come  to  hate 
and  destroy  her,  as  in  the  following  prophecies: 


SPIRITUAL  ADULTERY  333 

0  harlot,  hear  the  word  of  the  Lord  .  .  . 

1  will  gather  all  thy  lovers  .  .  .  against  thee  on  every  side  .  .  . 
I  wiU  also  give  thee  into  their  hand  ; 

And  they  .  .  .  shall  break  down  thy  high  places  ; 

And  they  shall  strip  thee  of  thy  clothes, 

And  shall  take  away  thy  fair  jewels, 

And  shall  leave  thee  naker^  and  bare  .  .  . 

And  they  shall  stone  thee  with  stones, 

And  thrust  thee  through  with  their  swords  ; 

And  they  shall  bum  thy  houses  with  fire, 

And  shall  execute  judgments  upon  thee  .    .   . 

And  I  will  cause  thee  to  cease  from  playing  the  harlot, 

And  thou  shalt  also  give  no  hire  any  more  (Ez.  xvi.  35-43). 

Thus  the  secular  powers,  under  the  overruling  providence  of 
God,  will  be  united  to  execute  His  purposes  upon  the  harlot; 
for  He  will  put  it  into  their  hearts  to  be  of  one  mind  in  this 
matter,  until  His  prophetic  denunciations  against  this  harlot 
corruption  of  the  church  shall  be  fully  accomplished;  after 
which  they  themselves  shall  go  into  perdition  with  the  beast 
to  whom  they  give  their  kingdoms,  in  order  that  the  Lord's 
millennial  kingdom  may  be  established.  Now,  if  we  bear  in 
mind  that  this  beast  is  the  symbol  of  antichristian  political 
power,  his  ten  horns,  of  the  political  organizations  developed 
out  of  it,  and  the  harlot,  of  that  special  form  of  antichristi- 
anity  which  is  embodied  in  the  apostate  church,  we  shall  see 
how  the  great  antichristian  world-power,  which  includes 
them  all,  becomes  'divided  into  three  parts,'  and  falls  into 
conflict  with  itself,  in  that  the  beast  and  his  horns  are  made 
to  hate  and  destroy  the  harlot  (323).  Also,  in  this  division 
of  the  world-power  against  itself  we  see,  in  all  probability, 
what  is  meant  by  the  drying  up  of  the  Euphrates  under 
Babylon  (319),  whereby  are  cut  off  the  sources  of  her  wealth, 
power,  and  greatness.  In  fine,  we  can  hardly  fail  to  recog- 
nize in  the  late  overthrow  of  the  temporal  power  of  the 
papacy  by  the  political  powers  over  which  it  formerly  domi- 
nated, whereby  they  have  made  it  '  naked  and  desolate,*  at 
least  the  initial  fulfilment  of  this  grand  prophecy  (327). 

18  And  the  woman  whom  thou  sawest  is  the  great  city  which  hath 
a  kingdom  over  the  kings  of  the  earth. 

The  woman  has  been  already  identified  with  Babylon  by 


334 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


the  name  on  her  forehead,  and  with  Rome  by  the  seven 
mountains  on  which  she  sits;  here  also  she  is  '  the  great  city, 
which  spiritually  is  called  Sodom  and  Egypt'  (225),  appar- 
ently for  the  purpose  of  increased  emphasis  upon  the  idea, 
that  what  she  represents,  in  the  church  as  well  as  out  of  it, 
is  the  world  in  its  alienation  from  God  and  hostility  to  the 
Lord's  kingdom.  The  whole  vision,  however,  requires  us  to 
discern  in  these  words  with  which  it  concludes  a  special 
reference  to  papal  Rome,  as  the  most  striking  example  ever 
known  of  this  harlot  corruption  of  the  church.  But  this 
corruption  is  by  no  means  confined  to  the  church  of  Rome, 
for  it  prevails  extensively  also  in  the  Protestant  communions 
as  evinced  by  their  conformity  to  the  world.  Finally,  the 
words,  '  which  hath  a  kingdom  over  the  kings  of  the  earth,' 
is  almost  a  literal  interpretation  of  what  is  symbolized  by 
the  woman  riding  upon  the  beast  of  antichristian  political 
power,  in  pointed  allusion  to  papal  Rome  in  that  dominion 
which  she  exercised  over  the  nations, 

I.  Here,  then,  we  are  solemnly  admonished  that  worldli- 
ness  in  the  church  is  spiritual  harlotry,  which  leads  also  to 
all  manner  of  sexual  impurities.  For  in  this  state  of  the 
church  the  pure  and  consecrated  Bride  of  the  Lamb,  by 
whom  she  was  chosen  to  share  His  throne  and  crown,  and 
who  ought  ever  to  be  in  her  eyes, 

The  chiefest  among  ten  thousand 

.  .  .  ciltogether  lovely  (Can.  v.  10-16), 

forsakes  her  celestial  Bridegroom,  and  betrays  His  honor 
by  yielding  herself  to  the  adulterous  embraces  of  the  power 
that  crucified  Him.  We  cannot  with  impunity  allow  our 
affections  to  be  thus  alienated  from  Him  and  fixed  upon 
'  the  beggarly  elements  of  this  world  '  (Gal.  iv.  9).  He  will 
surely  visit  'the  uncleannesses  of  her  fornication'  upon  His 
adulterous  spouse  with  fearful  judgments,  as  in  the  words 
of  God:  "I  will  judge  thee  as  women  that  break  wedlock 
and  shed  blood  are  judged;  and  I  will  bring  upon  thee  the 
blood  of  fury  and  jealousy  "  (Ez.  xvi.  38).  His  jealousy  will 
burn  against  her  as  a  consuming  fire;  and  '  He  will  not  spare 
in  the  day  of  vengeance  '  (Prov.  vi.  34-35). 


SPIRITUAL  ADULTERY 


335 


2.  In  view  of  what  is  disclosed  in  this  vision,  and,  indeed, 
on  almost  every  page  of  this  book,  we  are  forcibly  reminded 
of  St.  Paul's  admonitions  to  his  son  Timothy  concerning 
those  who  would  hold  the  form  of  godliness,  denying  its 
power:  "  But  know  thou  this,  that  in  the  last  days  grievous 
times  will  come;  for  men  will  be  lovers  of  self,  lovers  of 
money,  boastful,  proud,  blasphemous,  disobedient  to  parents, 
unthankful,  unholy,  without  natural  affection,  implacable, 
false  accusers,  incontinent,  fierce,  despisers  of  good,  traitors, 
headstrong,  puffed  up,  lovers  of  pleasure  rather  than  lovers 
of  God,  holding  the  form  of  godliness,  but  having  denied 
the  power  thereof  :  from  these  also  turn  thou  away  "  (2  Tim. 
ii.  1-5).  Let  us  not  shut  our  eyes,  then,  to  that  which  is 
certain  to  come,  and  which  seems  already  begun,  lest  we  be 
involved  in  the  uncleannesses  of  the  harlot  church,  thus  re- 
ceiving the  mark  of  the  beast,  and  be  engulfed  in  her  fearful 
doom.  At  the  same  time,  let  us  hold  fast  the  assurance  here 
and  everywhere  given  us,  that  it  shall  be  well  with  those 
who  stand  on  the  watch  for  their  Lord's  coming,  and  keep 
their  garments  clean  (321). 


XXXIX 

DESTRUCTION    OF    BABYLON        DELIVERANCE    OF    THE 
CHURCH        XVIII    1-24 

We  have  had  a  pre-announcement  of  the  fall  of  the  great 
antichristian  world-power  (274),  and  now  we  are  to  have  the 
full  particulars  of  its  overthrow  and  utter  destruction,  where- 
by the  true  church  finally  obtains  deliverance  from  her  bond- 
age to  the  world.  In  these  particulars  there  is  evidently  a 
synthesis  of  the  two  symbols  under  which  this  power  has 
been  represented,  namely,  that  of  a  city  and  that  of  a  woman, 
so  that  the  imagery  is  sometimes  more  appropriate  to  one 
and  sometimes  to  the  other,  although  neither  seems  ever  to 
be  entirely  left  out  of  sight. 

I  After  these  things  I  saw  another  angel  coming  down  out  of  heav- 
en, having  great  authority,  and  the  earth  was  lighted  with  his  glory : 
2  and  he  cried  with  a  mighty  voice,  saying.  Fallen,  fallen  is  Babylon 
the  Great,  and  is  become  a  habitation  of  devils,  and  a  hold  of  every 
unclean  spirit,  and  a  hold  of  every  unclean  and  hated  bird  :  3  for  by  the 
wine  of  the  rage  of  her  fornication  all  the  nations  have  fallen  ;  and  w^ith 
her  the  kings  of  the  earth  committed  fornication,  and  the  merchants  of 
the  earth  became  rich  through  the  abundance  of  her  luxury. 

The  great  authority  and  mighty  voice  of  this  angel  denote 
the  impoi"tance  of  what  he  proclaims;  and  the  lighting  up  of 
the  earth  with  his  glory  signifies  that  the  destruction  of  the 
antichristian  world-power  is  for  the  transfiguration  and 
glorification  of  human  life:  it  may  contain  also  an  alkision 
to  the  universal  preaching  of  the  gospel,  which  immediately 
precedes  the  overthrow  of  Babylon  (267),  and  which  is  the 
only  light  by  which  the  earth  can  be  spiritually  illumined. 
This  destruction,  having  been  previously  announced,  is  here 
(336) 


DELIVERANCE  OF  THE  CHURCH  337 

represented  as  actually  taking  place,  with  a  multitude  of 
allusions  to  the  prophecies  concerning  it,  of  which  the  fol- 
lowing are  examples: 

Babylon,  the  glory  of  kingdoms,  the  beauty  of  the  Chaldee's  pride, 

Shall  be  as  when  God  overthrew  Sodom  and  Gomorrah. 

It  shall  never  be  inhabited. 

Neither  shall  it  be  dwelt  in  from  generation  to  generation  ; 

Neither  shall  the  Arabian  pitch  tent  there  ; 

Neither  shall  shepherds  make  their  flocks  to  lie  down  there : 

But  wild  beasts  of  the  desert  shall  lie  there  ; 

And  their  houses  shall  be  full  of  doleful  creatures ; 

And  ostriches  shall  dwell  there, 

And  satyrs  shall  dance  there  (Is.  xiii.  19-22). 

The  pelican  and  the  porcupine  shall  possess  it ; 

And  the  owl  and  the  raven  shall  dwell  in  it : 

And  He  shall  stretch  over  it  the  line  of  confusion, 

And  the  plummet  of  emptiness  .  .  . 

It  shall  be  a  habitation  of  jackals, 

A  court  for  ostriches. 

The  wild  beast  of  the  Hesert  also  shall  meet  with  the  howling  creatures, 

And  the  satyr  shall  ciy  to  his  fellow  ; 

Yea,  the  night  monster  shall  settle  there, 

And  shall  find  for  itself  a  place  of  rest. 

There  shall  the  arrowsnake  make  her  nest. 

And  lay  and  hatch  and  gather  under  her  shadow  ; 

Yea,  there  shall  the  vultures  be  gathered, 

Everyone  with  her  mate  (xxxiv.  10-15). 

The  one  idea  which  underlies  all  these  prophecies  is  that  of 
utter  ruin,  perpetual  desolation,  and  beyond  this  they  need 
not  be  pressed.  Their  typical  fulfilment  in  the  destruction  of 
the  city  of  Babylon  is  also  itself  a  prophecy  of  their  anti-typ- 
ical fulfilment  in  that  of  the  world-power  which  Babylon  rep- 
resents. The  reason  given  for  this  tremendous  judgment  is, 
that '  by  the  wine  of  the  rage  of  her  fornication  all  the  nations 
have  fallen,'  i.  c.  Babylon  is  fallen,  because  she  caused  all  the 
nations  to  fall,  or  become  corrupted  to  their  ruin  (274):  also, 
because 'with  her  the  kings  of  the  earth  have  committed 
fornication  *;  wherein  there  is  a  pointed  allusion  to  the  adul- 
terous union  of  the  harlot  church  with  the  secular  powers 
(328):  and  because  the  merchants  of  the  earth,  the  ministers 
to  her  enormous  luxury,  have  thereby  become  rich  and  cor- 
rupt. 

IS 


338 


WISDOM  OF  THE  A  FOCAL  YPSE 


4  And  I  heard  another  voice  from  heaven,  saying,  Come  out  of  her, 
my  people,  that  ye  partake  not  of  her  sins,  and  receive  not  of  her 
plagues.  5  For  her  sins  have  reached  unto  heaven,  and  God  hath  re- 
membered her  iniquities.  6  Render  unto  her  as  she  hath  rendered, 
and  double  unto  her  according  to  her  -works  :  in  the  cup  which  she  hath 
mingled  mingle  unto  her  double  :  7  how  much  she  hath  glorified  her- 
self, and  waxed  wranton,  so  much  torment  and  sorrow  give  her.  For 
she  saith  in  her  heart,  I  sit  a  queen,  and  am  no  widow,  and  sorrow  I 
shall  not  see.  8  Therefore,  in  one  day  shall  her  plagues  come,  death 
and  mourning  and  famine,  and  she  shall  be  utterly  burned  up  with  fire  : 
for  strong  is  the  Lord  God  -who  hath  judged  her. 

This  voice  from  heaven  is  to  be  recognized  as  that  of  God 
by  the  command  given  to  His  people,  that  they  shall  now 
come  forth  and  separate  themselves  from  the  world,  for  their 
long  promised  deliverance  is  at  hand.  But  it  is  not  clear 
how  much  of  what  follows  is  thus  spoken  from  heaven,  for 
it  is  hardly  consistent  with  propriety  that  the  whole  of  it, 
especially  the  long  poetic  lamentations  over  Babylon,  should 
come  immediately  from  the  mouth  of  God.  Therefore,  I 
venture  to  suggest  that  only  the  fourth  verse  is  delivered  by 
this  voice,  and  that  all  the  rest  of  the  vision  is  in  the  in- 
spired language  of  the  Seer.  This  deliverance  of  the  church 
from  bondage  to  the  world  is  one  principal  object  of  all 
these  judgments,  as  well  as  of  those  in  which  it  is  typically 
represented,  that  of  Noah  by  the  deluge,  the  escape  of  Lot 
from  Sodom,  of  Israel  from  Egypt,  their  return  from  Baby- 
lon, and  the  flight  of  the  Christians  from  Jerusalem,  when  it 
was  about  to  be  destroyed;  concerning  which  last  the  Lord 
gave  them  the  following  injunction:  ''When,  therefore,  ye 
shall  see  the  abomination  of  desolation,  which  was  spoken 
of  by  Daniel  the  prophet,  standing  in  the  holy  place  .  .  . 
then  let  them  that  are  in  Judea  flee  unto  the  mountains;  and 
let  him  that  is  upon  the  housetop  not  come  down  to  take 
the  things  that  are  in  his  house,  neither  let  him  that  is  in  the 
field  return  back  to  take  his  clothes  "  (Mat.  xxiv.  15-18).  It 
was  in  similar  words  that  the  angel  commanded  Lot  to  flee 
out  of  Sodom:  "  Escape  for  thy  life,  look  not  behind  thee, 
neither  stay  thou  in  all  the  plain;  escape  to  the  mountain, 


DELI  VERA  XCE  OF  THE  CHURCH  330 

lest  thou  be  consumed  "  (Gen.  xix.  17):  so  also  God  said  to 
His  people  in  the  literal  Babylon:  "My  people,  go  ye  out  of 
the  midst  of  her,  and  deliver  ye  every  man  his  soul  from  the 
fierce  anger  of  the  Lord  (Jer.  li.  45).  Be  not  ye  cut  off  in 
her  iniquity;  for  it  is  the  time  of  the  Lord's  vengeance,  and 
He  will  render  unto  her  a  recompense  "  (li.  6).  The  motives 
for  their  flight,  both  in  type  and  antitype,  are  the  same, 
namely,  that  they  may  not  be  partakers  in  her  sins,  nor  in- 
volved in  her  punishment.  For  her  sins  have  reached  unto 
heaven,  i.  e.  even  to  the  throne  of  God,  and  thus  forced 
themselves,  as  it  were,  upon  His  remembrance,  so  that  He 
can  no  longer  delay  to  punish  them.  Moreover,  this  separa- 
tion and  breach  between  His  people  and  the  harlot  is  such 
that  it  can  never  be  healed,  for  they  are  to  be  His  instru- 
ments in  her  punishment  and  destruction:  they  are  to  render 
unto  her  double  for  all  her  works;  the  cup  which  she  has 
mingled  for  them  they  are  to  mingle  for  her;  her  self-glori- 
fication and  wantonness  are  the  measure  of  the  torment  and 
sorrow  which  they  are  to  give  her:  in  all  which,  of  course, 
no  unchristian  retaliation  is  intended,  for  the  harlot  is  the  per- 
sonification of  a  system  of  iniquity  which  it  is  the  bounden 
duty  of  all  Christians  to  hate  and  destroy.  Meanwhile,  she 
has  no  premonition  of  her  impending  doom,  but  continues 
to  felicitate  herself  upon  the  greatness  and  stability  of  her 
prosperity  and  glory,  saying  in  her  heart,  '  I  sit  a  queen,  and 
am  no  widow,  and  sorrow  I  shall  not  see  ';  for  her  overthrow 
shall  come  when  it  is  least  expected,  'death,'  i.  e.  pestilence 
(132),  and  mourning  and  famine  and  burning  up  with  fire; 
all  which  are  to  be  taken  as  cumulative  expressions  of  her 
utter  destruction.  And  what  makes  it  sure  and  complete  is, 
that  she  has  been  already  condemned  by  Him  whose  power 
is  adequate  to  effect  it,  '  for  strong  is  the  Lord  God  who  hath 
judgrd  her.' 

9  And  the  kings  of  the  earth,  who  have  committed  fornication  and 
waxed  wanton  with  her,  shall  weep  and  wail  for  her,  when  they  see 
the  smoke  of  her  burning;  10  standing  afar  off  for  fear  of  her  torment, 
saying.  Woe,  woe,  the  great  city  Babylon,  the  mighty  city,  for  in  one 
hour  is  thy  judgment  come  1 


240  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YFSE 

This  is  the  first  of  three  great  lamentations  over  the  de- 
struction of  ,the  harlot  world-power  from  the  three  classes 
who  have  been  most  deeply  implicated  in  her  earthly  greed 
and  idolatry,  who  have  most  profited  by  her  luxury  and  wan- 
tonness, who  have  been  the  instruments  of  her  vices  and 
crimes;  for  they  discern  in  her  overthrow  a  premonition  of 
their  own,  inasmuch  as  they  also  are  of  the  world,  and  must 
be  involved  in  its  punishment.  The  first  of  these  classes  is 
that  of  '  the  kings  of  the  earth,'  representing  here,  as  else- 
where, the  secular  governments,  which  have  been  the  instru- 
ments of  the  world-power  in  its  conquests,  oppressions,  and 
shedding  of  innocent  blood,  especially  that  of  the  saints, 
and  which  have  been  adulterously  connected  with  the  harlot 
church.  These  are  symbolically  represented  as  standing 
afar  off  for  fear  of  her  torment,  which  notwithstanding  they 
cannot  escape,  weeping  and  wailing  and  beating  their  breasts 
(i6)  over  the  suddenness  and  completeness  of  her  destruction, 
'  saying.  Woe,  woe,  the  great  city  Babylon,  the  mighty  city, 
for  in  one  hour  is  thy  judgment  come  '  !  This  lament 
and  those  that  follow  are  intended  to  bring  out  the  identity 
of  interest,  character,  and  destiny  between  the  world-power 
and  those  who  have  been  its  instruments. 

II  And  the  merchants  of  the  earth  weep  and  lament  for  her,  be- 
cause no  man  buyeth  their  lading  any  more  :  12  lading  of  gold  and 
silver  and  precious  stones  and  pearls  and  fine  linen  and  purple  and 
silk  and  scarlet  ;  and  every  sweet-smelling  wood,  and  every  vessel  of 
ivory,  and  every  vessel  of  most  precious  ^vood,  and  of  brass  and  of 
iron  and  of  marble  ;  13  and  cinnamon  and  spice  and  incense  and  oint- 
ment and  frankincense  and  wine  and  oil  and  fine  flour  and  wheat  and 
cattle  and  sheep  and  horses  and  chariots  and  bodies  and  souls  of  men. 
14  And  the  fruit-time  of  the  lust  of  thy  soul  hath  departed  from  thee, 
and  all  the  splendid  and  sumptuous  things  have  perished  from  thee, 
and  they  shall  find  them  no  more  at  all.  15  The  merchants  of  these 
things,  who  became  rich  by  her,  shall  stand  afar  off  for  fear  of  her  tor- 
ment, weeping  and  lamenting,  16  saying,  Woe,  woe,  the  great  city, 
that  was  arrayed  in  fine  linen  and  purple  and  scarlet,  and  decked  with 
gold  and  precious  stones  and  pearls ;  17  for  in  one  hour  hath  so  great 
riches  been  made  a  desolation  1 

The  merchants  of  the  earth  here  represent  a  great  part  of 


DELIVERANCE  OF  THE  CHURCH 


341 


the  industrial  world;  the  rest  of  it  will  be  introduced  in  the 
next  lament.  In  both  it  is  regarded  as  completely  secular- 
ized, alienated  from  the  service  of  God,  and  employed  in 
ministering  to  luxury  and  wantonness.  This  particular 
enumeration  of  so  many  and  various  elements  of  merchan- 
dise represents  the  enormous  luxury  of  unsanctified  wealth: 
and  it  is  not  a  little  significant  that  trading  in  these  things, 
when  it  becomes  thus  secularized  and  ministrant  to  luxury, 
is  here  placed  in  the  same  category  with  making  merchan- 
dise of  'the  bodies  and  souls  of  men,' i.  e.  with  the  slave 
trade.  The  merchants  of  all  these  things,  having  become 
rich  and  corrupt  in  their  service  of  the  world,  to  which  the}^ 
belong,  weep  and  lament  over  its  destruction,  as  involving 
their  own,  in  nearly  the  same  words  as  the  kings,  '  because 
no  man  buyeth  their  lading  any  more.'  In  both  these  la- 
ments there  are  special  references  to  the  harlot  church,  and 
here,  especially,  in  the  words,  'that  was  arrayed  in  fine  linen 
and  purple  and  scarlet,  and  decked  with  gold  and  precious 
stones  and  pearls,'  which  are  appropriate  to  a  wornan  rather 
than  to  a  city;  and  this,  apparently,  to  emphasize  the  idea 
that  her  destruction  is  necessarily  included  in  that  of  the 
great  world-pov/er  with  which  she  has  identified  herself. 

17  And  every  shipmaster,  and  every  one  that  saileth  anyv^hither, 
and  mariners,  and  as  many  as  are  toilers  of  the  sea  stood  afar  off,  18 
and  cried  out,  seeing  the  smoke  of  her  burning-,  saying,  What  [city] 
is  like  unto  the  great  city  !  19  And  they  cast  dust  upon  their  heads, 
and  cried  out,  weeping  and  lamenting,  saying,  Woe,  woe,  the  great 
city,  by  which  al  that  had  ships  in  the  sea  became  rich  from  her  cost- 
liness ;  for  in  one  hour  hath  she  been  made  a  desolation  ! 

A  similar  lament  from  those  engaged  in  maritime  com- 
merce, with  a  like  significance.  But  it  is  a  great  puzzle  to 
most  Protestant  commentators,  who  generally  regard  Baby- 
lon as  another  name  for  the  papacy  or  the  city  of  Rome; 
which  it  cannot  be  in  any  exclusive  sense,  for  the  reason, 
among  others,  that  this  lament  has  no  special  appropriate- 
ness upon  that  supposition.  Thus  Dean  Alford:  "The  char- 
acter of  this  lamentation  throws  a  shade  of  doubt  over  the 
interpretation  [that  Rome  exclusively  is  intended]  .  .  .  For 


342 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


Rome  never  has  been,  and  from  its  very  position  never  could 
be,  a  great  commercial  city.  .  ,  ,  The  details  of  this  lamen- 
tation far  more  nearly  suit  London  than  Rome,  at  any  as- 
signable period  of  her  history."  Then,  with  his  beautiful 
simplicity  and  accustomed  frankness  (great  qualities  of  a 
true  scholar)  he  adds,  "I  leave  this  difficulty  unsolved."  But 
the  interpretation  given  in  this  work,  that  Babylon  is  the 
symbol  of  the  antichristian  world-power,  which  is  nowhere 
more  fully  present  than  in  secularized  commerce,  both  by 
land  and  by  sea,  and  that  these  laments  regard  papal  Rome 
only  in  a  subordinate  manner,  and  not  so  much  as  a  city,  but 
rather  as  a  harlot  church  in  adulterous  union  with  the  world, 
completely  solves  this  difficulty,  and  is  thereby  strongly  con- 
firmed. For  it  is  not  Rome  exclusively  that  here  fills  the  eye 
of  the  Seer,  but  the  great  antichristian  world,  as  represented 
in  Rome,  London,  Paris,  Berlin,  Vienna,  St.  Petersburg,  Mos- 
cow, New  York,  and  in  all  '  the  cities  of  the  nations  '  whose 
fall  is  involved  in  that  of  Babylon  (323). 

20  Rejoice  over  her,  O  heaven,  and  ye  saints  and  apostles  and 
prophets,  for  God  hath  judged  your  judgment  upon  her. 

'In  the  strongest  contrast  with  the  preceding  lamentations 
is  this  call  upon  the  heavenly  host,  upon  the  saints,  apostles, 
and  prophets,  to  rejoice  over  the  destruction  of  the  harlot 
world-power:  the  particular  reason  given  for  which  is,  that 
God  has  now  executed  upon  her  that  judgment  which  they 
in  all  ages  have  predicted  or  anticipated,  and  which  rights 
all  the  wrongs  she  has  ever  inflicted.  For  this  judgment  is 
contained  in  all  the  prophecies  concerning  the  typical  de- 
struction of  the  historic  Babylon,  and  the  typical  deliverance 
of  the  Old  Testament  church,  where  also  it  is  an  occasion  of 
similar  rejoicing: 

Sing,  O  heavens,  for  the  Lord  hath  done  it ; 

Shout,  ye  lower  parts  of  the  earth  ; 

Break  forth  into  singing,  ye  mountains, 

O  forest,  and  every  tree  therein  : 

For  the  Lord  hath  redeemed  Jacob, 

And  will  glorify  himself  in  Israel  (Is.  xlix.  23). 

Sing,  O  heavens,  and  be  joyful,  O  earth. 

And  break  fonh  ir.to  tinging,  O  mountains  : 


DELIVERANCE  OF  THE  CHURCH 

For  the  Lord  hath  comforted  His  people, 

And  will  have  compassion  upon  His  afflicted  (xlix.  13). 


343 


For  the  destruction  of  the  world-power,  though  it  be  re- 
garded by  those  who  have  been  corrupted  with  luxury  and 
wantonness  as  a  measureless  calamity,  is  in  truth  the  great- 
est of  blessings,  because  it  is  the  realization  of  divine  jus- 
tice, and  indispensable  to  the  deliverance  of  the  church  from 
bondage,  and  to  the  final  establishment  of  the  Lord's  king- 
dom. Hence  He  says  to  His  people  :  "  When  these  things 
begin  to  come  to  pass,  look  up,  and  lift  up  your  heads,  foi 
your  redemption  draweth  nigh  '  (Luke  xxi.  28). 

21  And  a  mighty  angel  took  up  a  stone,  as  it  were  a  great  mill- 
stone, and  hurled  it  into  the  sea,  saying,  Thus  with  sudden  violence 
shall  Babylon  the  great  city  be  hurled,  and  shall  be  found  no  more. 

In  this  symbolical  transaction  the  sudden  violence  with 
which  the  great  antichristian  world-power  shall  be  over- 
thrown and  made  to  disappear  forever  is  strikingly  repre- 
sented, in  pointed  allusion  to  the  following  prophecy:  "When 
thou  hast  made  an  end  of  reading  this  book,  thou  shalt  bind 
a  stone  unto  it,  and  shalt  cast  it  into  Euphrates;  and  thou 
shalt  say,  Thus  shall  Babylon  sink,  and  shall  not  rise  again, 
because  of  the  evil  that  I  will  bring  upon  her"  (Jer.  li.  63-64). 

22  And  the  voice  of  harpers  and  of  minstrels  and  of  flute  players 
and  trumpeters  shall  be  heard  no  more  at  all  in  thee  ;  and  no  crafts- 
man of  any  craft  shall  be  found  any  more  at  all  in  thee  ;  and  the  sound 
of  a  millstone  shall  be  heard  no  more  at  all  in  thee  ;  23  and  the  light  of  a 
lamp  shall  shine  no  more  at  all  in  thee ;  and  the  voice  of  the  bride- 
groom and  of  the  bride  shall  be  heard  no  more  at  all  in  thee.  For  thy 
merchants  were  the  great  ones  of  the  earth  ;  for  with  thy  sorcery  all 
the  nations  of  the  earth  were  deceived :  24  and  in  her  was  found  the 
blood  of  prophets  and  of  saints  and  of  all  who  have  been  slain  in  sac- 
rifice upon  the  earth. 

Here  the  utter  ruin  or  desolation  of  the  literal  Babylon, 
as  foretold  by  the  prophets,  as  it  was  in  the  time  of  St.  John, 
and  as  it  has  continued  for  almost  2,000  years  since,  is  taken 
to  represent  the  overthrow  and  destruction  of  the  antichrist- 
ian v/orld-power  of  the  last  times:  and  all  these  particulars 


344 


WISLOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


are  significant,  showing  that  within  its  limits  there  will  be 
no  festivity,  no  art,  no  form  of  industry,  no  household  life, 
and  no  source  of  population;  and  all  this  in  allusion  to  in- 
numerable prophecies,  of  which  the  following  is  a  single 
example: 

I  will  take  from  them  the  voice  of  mirth  and  the  voice  of  gladness, 

The  voice  of  the  bridegroom  and  the  voice  of  the  bride, 

The  sound  of  the  millstones  and  the  light  of  the  candle  (Jer.  xxv.  lo). 

The  vision  closes  with  the  three  great  crimes  for  which, 
above  all  others,  the  harlot  world-power  is  thus  judged  and 
punished:  (i)  Her  enormous  luxury,  as  signified  by  the  fact, 
that  her  merchants,  the  ministers  to  her  wantonness,  '  were 
the  great  ones  of  the  earth,'  those  who  filled  the  most  exalted 
stations,  and  had  the  greatest  power  and  influence:  (2)  Her 
having  seduced  by  her  sorceries,  or  meretricious  solicitations, 
all  the  nations,  governments,  political  powers  of  mankind 
into  rebellion  against  God,  and,  as  the  harlot  church,  having 
taken  them  into  adulterous  union  with  herself,  and  made 
them  the  instruments  of  her  vices  and  crimes  :  (3)  Her 
bloody  persecution  of  prophets  and  saints,  and  of  all  who 
have  ever  been  sacrificed  in  the  cause  of  truth  and  right, 
whose  blood  is  now  required  at  her  hands. 

1.  We  see  here  what  is  meant  by  '  the  end  of  the  world  ' 
in  the  Scriptural  sense  of  that  expression;  for  it  does  not 
mean  the  close  of  man's  history  upon  earth,  but  the  end  of 
his  rebellion  against  God,  including  the  destruction  of  all 
antichristian  political  and  ecclesiastical  powers,  and  the  de- 
liverance of  the  true  church  from  their  enslaving  and  corrupt- 
ing influences.  Moreover,  in  strict  analogy  with  prophecy  in 
general,  it  may  include  a  series  of  sudden  events  (20);  for 
much  of  what  is  here  predicted  takes  place,  as  we  shall  see, 
previously  to,  and  in  preparation  for,  the  establishment  of 
the  Lord's  millennial  kingdom;  but  it  is  not  consummated 
until  the  issue  of  the  last  battle  subsequently  to  the  millen- 
nium, which  is  immediately  followed  by  the  final  judgment 
and  the  descent  of  the  New  Jerusalem  from  heaven  to  earth. 

2.  Further,  I  venture  to  suggest  that  this  destruction  of 
the  world-power  under  the  symbol  of  Babylon  consumed  by 


DELIVERANCE  OF  THE  CHURCH 


345 


fire,  may  be  identical  with  what  is  elsewhere  spoken  of  as  a 
conflagration  of  the  earth,  in  which,  as  it  has  been  commonly 
believed,  the  physical  world  will  be  literally  burned  up:  for 
otherwise  this  catastrophe  does  not  appear  at  all  in  these 
visions,  and  it  seems  impossible  to  account  for  its  omission. 
If  this  identification  be  correct,  it  may  lead  to  a  figurative, 
in  place  of  the  literal  interpretation  which  has  generally  pre- 
vailed, of  such  prophecies  as  the  following:  "  The  heavens 
that  are  now  and  the  earth  .  .  .  are  treasured  up  for  fire, 
being  reserved  against  the  day  of  judgment  and  perdition  of 
ungodly  men.  .  .  .  The  day  of  the  Lord  shall  come  as  a  thief, 
in  which  the  heavens  shall  pass  away  with  a  great  noise,  and 
the  elements  shall  be  dissolved  with  fervent  heat,  and  the 
earth  and  the  works  that  are  therein  shall  be  burned  up  "  (2 
Pet.  iii.  7-10).  For  such  a  figurative  interpretation  of  these 
prophecies  would  not  weaken  in  the  least,  much  less  invali- 
date, the  practical  exhortations  which  are  based  upon  them, 
such  as  the  following:  "  Seeing  that  all  these  things  are  thus 
to  be  dissolved,  what  manner  of  persons  ought  ye  to  be  in 
all  holy  living  and  godliness,  looking  for  and  hastening  unto 
the  day  of  God,  by  reason  of  which  the  heavens  being  on 
fire  shall  be  dissolved,  and  the  elements  shall  melt  with  fer- 
vent heat  !  But  we  according  to  His  promise  look  for  new 
heavens  and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness  " 
(iii.  11-13). 

3.  In  conclusion,  the  unparalleled  fulness  with  which  the 
overthrow  of  the  antichristian  world-power  is  represented, 
both  by  pre-announcement  and  description  in  detail,  shows 
its  enormous  importance  in  the  scheme  of  divine  providence. 
Moreover,  inasmuch  as  it  includes  the  deliverance  of  the 
ch'-irch  from  bondage  to  the  world,  and  the  suppression  of  evil, 
it  is,  as  we  have  seen,  and  as  will  more  fully  appear  in  the 
next  vision,  a  subject  of  great  rejoicing  in  heaven,  and  should 
be  an  object  of  longing  desire  and  unceasing  prayer  with  all 
the  people  of  God:  for  when  finally  delivered  from  this  bond- 
age, 'then  shall  the  righteous  shine  forth  as  the  sun  in  the 
kingdom  of  their  Father.  He  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him 
hear'  (Mat.  xiii.  43). 

IS* 


XL 


JUBILATE  IN  HEAVEN  OVER  THE  JUDGMENT  OF  THE 
WORLD  POWER  THE  PURIFICATION  OF  THE  CHURCH 
AND   THE   MARRIAGE   OF   THE   LAMB        XIX    I-IO 

In  this  vision,  as  in  others  where  a  corresponding  stage 
has  been  reached  (228),  we  have  a  jubilation  in  heaven  over 
the  destruction  of  the  antichristian  world-power,  the  conse- 
quent deliverance  and  purification  of  the  church,  and  her 
marriage  with  the  Lamb. 

I  After  these  things  I  heard  as  it  were  the  great  voice  of  a  great 
multitude  in  heaven,  saying,  Hallelujah,  the  salvation  and  the  glory 
and  the  power  of  our  God !  2  For  true  and  just  are  His  judgments, 
for  He  hath  judged  the  great  harlot,  who  corrupted  the  earth  with  her 
fornication,  and  hath  avenged  the  blood  of  His  servants  at  her  hand. 

This  voice  is  that  of  the  whole  heavenly  host,  including 
the  saved,  who  have  come  safely  through  'the  great  tribula- 
tion,' and  whom  we  have  seen  and  heard  as  'a  great  multi- 
tude which  no  man  could  number,'  shouting,  'The  salvation 
be  unto  our  God,  who  sitteth  upon  the  throne  and  unto  the 
Lamb'  (159).  Here  with  their  great  voice  they  exclaim  at 
the  glory  of  God,  the  great  salvation,  and  the  power  by 
which  it  has  been  wrought  out,  and  celebrate  the  truth  and 
justice  of  His  judgments  as  manifested  in  the  means  He  has 
employed,  i.  e.  the  destruction  of  the  harlot  world-power 
who  corrupted  the  earth  with  her  fornication.  Hence  they 
see  in  her  overthrow  the  hand  of  God  avenging  the  blood  of 
His  servants  upon  her;  as  God  said  to  Jehu:  "Thou  shalt 
smite  the  house  of  Ahab  thy  master,  that  I  may  avenge  the 
blood  of  my  servants  the  prophets,  and  the  blood  of  all  the 
(346) 


yUBILA  TE  IN  HE  A  VEN  347 

servants  of  the  Lord,  at  the  hand  of  Jezebel  "  (2  Ki.  ix,  7). 
Moreover,  their  joy  and  triumph  are  such  that  the  Hebrew- 
word  Hallelujah,  signifying  *  Praise  ye  the  Lord,'  which  oc- 
curs nowhere  else  in  this  book,  nor  in  the  New  Testament, 
bursts  forth  from  their  lips.  We  shall  see  also  in  what  im- 
mediately follows,  that  it  is  repeated  four  times,  to  denote 
the  universality  of  this  praise  (114),  and  with  reference,  no 
doubt,  to  its  fourfold  repetition  in  that  series  of  Psalms 
which  was  sung  at  the  feast  of  the  Passover  in  commemora- 
tion of  the  typical  deliverance  of  the  Old  Testament  church 
from  the  bondage  in  Egypt: 

Praise  ye  the  Lord  .  .  . 

Who  is  like  unto  the  Lord  our  God, 

Who  hath  His  seat  on  high  !  .  .  . 

Praise  ye  the  Lord.  .  .  . 

When  Israel  went  forth  out  of  Egypt  .  .  . 

The  sea  saw  it  and  fled  .  .  , 

Praise  ye  the  Lord, 

For  His  mercy  is  great  toward  us, 

And  the  truth  of  the  Lord  is  forever. 

Praise  ye  the  Lord  (Ps.  cxiii.-cxvii.). 

Hence  this  word  now  becomes  the  fourfold  shout  of  the 
heavenly  host  for  God's  true  and  just  judgment  upon  the 
antichristian  world-power  of  the  last  times,  and  for  the  anti- 
typical  deliverance  of  His  people  from  its  persecutions  and 
corruptions. 

3  And  a  second  time  they  have  said  Hallelujah :  and  her  smoke 
goeth  up  forever  and  ever.  4  And  the  four  and  twenty  elders  and  the 
four  living  creatures  fell  down  and  worshipped  God  who  sitteth  upon 
the  throne,  saying,  Amen,  Hallelujah. 

This  smoke  is  that  of  the  burning  of  Babylon  (342),  and 
its  going  up  forever  and  ever  signifies  that  her  destruction 
is  such  that  from  it  she  can  never  rise  again.  Here  the  elders 
and  living  creatures  again  fall  down  and  worship  God  (115), 
and  give  their  solemn  response  of  'Amen  '  and  'Hallelujah,' 
to  signify  that  all  the  holy  angels  (113),  and  the  whole  world 
of  nature  (i  ro),  take  part  in  this  rejoicing  and  praise  to  God 
for  His  judgment  upon  the  world-power. 


348  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

5  And  a  voice  came  forth  from  the  throne,  saying,  Give  praise  unto 
our  God,  all  ye  His  servants  that  fear  Him,  the  small  and  the  great. 

This  voice  from  the  throne  cannot  be  that  of  God,  for  He 
could  not  speak  of  Himself  as  '  our  God.'  The  only  solution 
of  this  difficulty  that  I  can  suggest  is,  that  His  throne  here 
stands  for  heaven,  as  we  have  had  it  before  (339),  and  as  in 
the  words:  ''Heaven  is  my  throne  (Is.  Ixvi.  i).  Swear  not 
at  all;  neither  by  heaven,  for  it  is  God's  throne  "  (Mat.  v.  34). 
If  this  be  so,  the  throne,  or  heaven,  from  which  this  voice 
proceeds,  may  be  understood  in  the  sense  of  all  who  dwell 
in  heaven,  who  could  appropriately  call  upon  all  the  servants 
of  God  of  every  degree  to  praise  Him  for  this  great  deliver- 
ance, saying,  '  Give  praise  unto  our  God.'  It  must  be  ac- 
knowledged, however,  that  this  is  not  altogether  satisfactory. 
But  by  whomsoever  this  call  is  made,  it  certainly  has  the 
authority  of  God,  which  His  throne  always  represents. 

6  And  I  heard  as  it  were  the  voice  of  a  great  multitude,  and  as 
the  voice  of  many  waters,  and  as  the  voice  of  mighty  thunders,  say- 
ing, Hallelujah,  for  the  Lord  our  God,  the  Almightj',  reigneth  :  7  let  us 
rejoice  and  be  exceeding  glad,  and  we  will  give  the  glory  unto  Him  ; 
for  the  marriage  of  the  Lamb  is  come,  and  His  wife  hath  made  herself 
ready. 

In  response  to  the  preceding  call  from  the  throne,  this  per- 
fect storm  of  jubilation,  with  a  strength  and  density  of  sound 
like  the  voice  of  a  great  multitude,  of  many  waters,  and  of 
mighty  thunders,  bursts  forth,  as  it  would  seem,  from  all  the 
servants  of  God  throughout  the  universe,  including  angels, 
men,  and  nature,  in  which  they  cause  to  re-echo  for  the 
fourth  time  the  sacred  Hallelujah,  for  that  the  Lord  their 
God,  by  His  almighty  power,  has  taken  unto  Himself  His 
kingdom,  and  has  come  to  reign  over  the  world  no  longer 
in  rebellion  against  Him  (229).  They  rejoice  and  are  ex- 
ceeding glad,  and  give  Him  all  the  glory  of  this  destruc- 
tion of  the  world-power  which  corrupted  the  earth,  not  only 
for  its  own  sake,  but  also  and  chiefly  as  indispensable  to  the 
deliverance  and  purification  of  the  church,  who  now  comes 
forth  and  presents  herself,  in  the  strongest  contrast  with  the 


MARRIAGE  OF  THE  LAMB  34Q 

harlot,  as  the  chaste  Bride  of  the  Lamb,  having  purified,  and 
thus  '■  made  herself  ready  '  for  her  espousals.  The  immense 
importance  of  this  transaction  is  signified  by  this  rejoicing 
over  it. 

8  And  it  was  given  unto  her  that  she  should  array  herself  in  fine 
linen,  bright  [and]  pure  ;  for  the  fine  linen  is  the  righteousnesses  of  the 
saints. 

The  Bride  is,  of  course,  the  true  church  in  her  unity,  recep- 
tivity, and  motherhood  (233):  and  the  Seer  places  before  us 
the  simplicity  of  her  attire,  in  contrast  with  the  meretri- 
cious adornment  of  the  harlot  (327),  and  interprets  for  us  its 
symbolical  meaning.  For  it  consists  of  a  robe  of  fine  linen, 
which,  by  its  purity  and  glistering  brightness,  fitly  repre- 
sents '  the  righteousnesses'  of  the  saints:  the  word  being  plural 
perhaps  to  denote  a  righteousness  for  every  saint,  but  more 
probably,  I  think,  the  various  circumstances  and  conditions 
in  which  their  righteousness  manifests  itself.  Properly  it 
signifies  righteous  judgments  or  actions  ;  which,  together 
with  the  fact,  that  the  Bride  'arrays  herself,'  and  that  the 
saved  'wash  their  own  robes  and  make  them  white  in  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb'  (160),  may  denote  that  this  righteous- 
ness is  not  something  barely  external,  legal,  forensic,  but 
something  which  the  saints  appropriate  to  themselves,  which 
informs  and  purifies  their  lives,  and  constitutes  their  inmost 
character  (85):  yet,  as  represented  by  a  garment  *  given  '  unto 
them  (140),  and  in  which  it  is  'given  '  unto  the  Bride  to  array 
herself,  it  reminds  us  that  it  was  not  originally  their  own, 
but  is,  indeed,  '  the  righteousness  which  is  of  God  by  faith ' 
(Phil.  iii.  9). 

9  And  he  saith  unto  me,  Write :  Blessed  are  they  who  are  bidden 
unto  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb  :  and  he  saith  unto  me,  These 
are  the  true  words  of  God. 

There  is  a  certain  abruptness  in  the  introduction  of  this 
speaker,  whijl;,  however,  will  not  seem  strange  if  we  take 
him  to  be  the  interpreting  angel  of  a  former  vision  (329),  of 
whose  continued  presence  the  Seer  is  so  conscious  that  he 


350  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

does  not  feel  the  need  of  informing  us  who  he  is:  and  what 
renders  this  the  more  probable  is,  that  he  will  appear  here- 
after in  a  similar  abrupt  manner  (Rev.  xxii.  6).  His  com- 
mand to  write  what  he  now  delivers  emphasizes  its  import- 
ance for  the  church  in  all  subsequent  ages,  as  in  other  similar 
cases  (291).  The  marriage  of  the  Lamb  represents  that  con- 
summation of  the  mystical  union  of  the  Lord  with  His 
church  which  will  take  place  when  she  shall  have  purified 
herself  from  the  corruptions  and  defilements  of  the  world, 
and  in  consequence  of  which  she  will  be  forever  one  with 
Him  in  His  life  and  throne  and  crown  and  glory.  They  who 
are  bidden  to  the  marriage-supper  are  the  saints  regarded  in 
a  different  aspect  from  that  in  which  they  constitute  the 
Bride,  i.  e.  as  individuals,  those  who  are  represented  as  hav- 
ing the  wedding  garment  (Mat.  xxii.  it),  and  as  the  wise  vir- 
gins, in  the  Lord's  parables  (xxv.  i).  The  declaration  of  the 
angel,  'These  are  the  true  words  of  God,'  are  for  emphasis 
upon  the  blessing  He  has  just  pronounced  upon  the  wedding 
guests. 

10  And  I  fell  at  his  feet  to  worship  him :  and  he  saith  unto  me,  See 
[thou  do  it]  not :  I  am  a  fellow-servant  with  thee,  and  ■with  thy  breth- 
ren w^ho  hold  the  testimony  of  Jesus  :  w^orship  God  :  for  the  testimony 
of  Jesus  is  the  Spirit  of  prophecy. 

The  angel,  having  made  such  wonderful  disclosures  of  the 
invisible  world,  and  of  the  future  history  of  the  church,  and 
thus  solemnly  affirming  that  his  words  are  the  true  words  of 
God,  impresses  the  Seer  with  such  deep  spiritual  awe  that 
he  falls  at  his  feet  to  worship  him.  But  the  angel  forbids 
him,  declaring  that  he  is  only  a  fellow-servant  with  the  Seer 
and  with  all  his  brethren  who  hold  the  testimony  of  Jesus. 
His  being  commissioned  to  deliver  such  wonderful  revela- 
tions does  not  make  him  a  proper  object  of  worship,  for 
the  same  Spirit  of  prophecy  by  whom  they  are  inspired 
dwells  in  all  who  hold  this  testimony,  whether  angels  or  men, 
and  they  are  all  fellow-servants  and  brethren  to  each  other 
(238).  The  abruptness  of  the  angel's  words  in  the  original, 
*  See — not,'  expresses  his  eagerness  and  haste  to  guard  his 


MARRIAGE  OF  THE  LAMB 


351 


fellow-servant  from  the  error  and  sin  of  '  worshipping  the 
angels  '  (Col.  ii.  18). 

Thus  we  see  how  great  a  cause  of  rejoicing  to  all  the  ser- 
vants of  God  will  be  the  destruction  of  the  world-power, 
regarded  as  indispensable  to  the  deliverance  and  purification 
of  the  church,  and  to  the  consummation  of  her  espousals 
with  her  celestial  Bridegroom.  In  the  meantime,  it  is  for  us 
to  array  ourselves  in  the  wedding  garment  of  a  pure  and 
holy  life,  which  yet  is  His  gift,  in  order  that  we  may  be  wel- 
come guests  and  partakers  in  these  marriage  solemnities. 
And  it  is  for  us  to  watch  and  keep  our  lamps  trimmed  and 
burning:  for  when  the  Bridegroom  comes,  there  will  be  fool- 
ish virgins  who  will  have  no  oil  in  their  lamps,  who  will  not 
be  permitted  to  go  in  with  Him  to  the  marriage,  and  who, 
standing  without  in  the  midnight  darkness^  will  cry  in  vain, 
'Lord,  Lord,  open  unto  us,'  and  to  whom  He  will  say,  'I 
know  you  not.'  Ah,  the  sorrow  of  all  such  ;  with  what  pathos 
has  it  been  portrayed  by  a  great  poet  of  our  time  ! 

Late,  late,  so  late  ;  and  dark  the  night  and  chill : 

Late,  late,  so  late  ;  but  we  can  enter  still. 

Too  late,  too  late  ;  ye  cannot  enter  now. 

No  light  had  we  ;  for  that  we  do  repent  ; 

And,  learning  this,  the  Bridegroom  will  relent. 

Too  late,  too  late  ;  ye  cannot  enter  now. 

No  light,  so  late  ;  and  dark  and  chill  the  night : 

O  let  us  in  that  we  may  find  the  light. 

Too  late,  too  late  ;  ye  cannot  enter  now. 

Have  we  not  heard  the  Bridegroom  is  so  sweet  1 

O  let  us  in  that  we  may  kiss  His  feet. 

No,  no,  too  late  ;  ye  cannot  enter  now. 


XLI 


THE    COMING     OF    THE    LORD    FROM     HEAVEN    WITH     HIS 
ARMIES   TO   SUBDUE   THE   NATIONS       XIX    II-16 

In  this  vision  we  have  a  truly  sublime  and  picturesque 
representation  of  the  Lord  coming  forth  from  heaven,  with 
His  celestial  armies,  to  complete  the  suppression  of  the 
world's  rebellion,  and  to  take  possession  of  the  conquered 
nations.  Thus  He  fulfils  a  multitude  of  prophecies,  many 
of  which  have  been  already  quoted  (78).  But  as  this 
is  the  dominant  idea  of  the  Apocalypse  throughout  (16), 
what  is  here  represented  is  to  be  regarded  as  its  consumma- 
tion or  crowning  fulfilment. 

II  And  I  saw  heaven  opened,  and,  behold,  a  white  horse,  and  He 
that  sat  upon  him,  called  Faithful  and  True ;  and  in  righteousness 
doth  He  judge  and  make  war. 

The  Seer,  being  in  the  state  of  ecstatic  vision  (26),  sees  an 
opening  in  the  sky,  as  a  symbol  of  the  revelation  of  the  in- 
visible world  that  follows.  Of  course,  we  cannot  under- 
stand that  any  opening  in  the  void  space  above  the  earth 
actually  took  place.  As  little  can  we  understand  that  the 
Lord  will  ever  come  from  heaven  riding  literally  upon  a  white 
horse.  It  would  be  quite  unnecessary  to  say  this,  if  it  were 
not  for  the  intense  literalism  of  some  eminent  commentators, 
who  strenuously  maintain  that  His  coming,  as  here  repre- 
sented, must  be  a  personal  and  visible  one.  But  it  seems  far 
better  to  interpret  what  is  said  in  this  place,  as  in  others, 
in  accordance  with  the  symbolical  character  of  the  whole 
book.  For  such  riding  upon  white  horses  is  the  constant 
symbol  of  victory  and  triumph,  as  in  the  Roman  pomps 
(352) 


COMING  OF  THE  LORD  TO  SUBDUE  THE  NA  TIONS    353 

(135);  and  it  is  with  this  significance  that  the  Lord  is  so  rep- 
resented here  ;  also,  as  in  the  case  of  the  ministers  of 
His  four  sore  judgments  who  also  ride  upon  horses  (129),  to 
denote  that  His  attacks  upon  the  nations  will  now  be  rapid 
and  irresistible.  There  is  also  a  plain  allusion  here,  and  it 
runs  through  the  whole  vision,  to  the  following  prophecy: 

Gird  thy  sword  upon  thy  thigh,  O  Mighty  One, 

Thy  glory  and  thy  majesty  : 

And  in  thy  majesty  ride  prosperously, 

Because  of  truth  and  meekness  [and]  righteousness  ; 

And  let  thy  right  hand  teach  thee  terrible  things  (Ps.  xlv.  3-4). 

For  now  'the  Lord  will  execute  [His]  word  upon  the  earth, 
finishing  it  and  cutting  it  short'  (Rom.  ix,  28).  His  names, 
*  Faithful  and  True,'  are  significant  of  His  absolute  truth  and 
fidelity  to  all  His  engagements,  to  His  threatenings  no  less 
than  to  His  promises,  as  in  such  declarations  as  the  follow- 
ing: "Jesus,  who  was  faithful  to  Him  that  appointed  Him 
(Heb.  iii.  2).  We  know  Him  that  is  true,  and  we  are  in  Him 
that  is  true,  in  His  Son  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  the  true  God 
and  eternal  life"  (i  John  v.  20).  The  war  which  He  comes 
to  make  is  'in  righteousness,'  against  'all  ungodliness  of 
men  '  (Rom.  i.  18),  for  the  realization  of  truth  and  justice 
upon  earth,  as  in  the  prophecies: 

Let  the  heavens  be  glad,  and  let  the  earth  rejoice  .  .  . 

Before  the  Lord,  for  He  cometh  ; 

For  He  cometh  to  judge  the  earth  : 

He  will  judge  the  world  with  righteousness, 

And  the  peoples  with  His  truth  (Ps.  xcvi.  11-13). 

With  righteousness  will  He  judge  the  poor, 

And  reprove  with  equity  for  the  meek  of  the  earth : 

And  He  will  smite  the  earth  with  the  rod  of  His  mouth  ; 

And  with  the  breath  of  His  lips  will  He  slay  the  wicked  : 

And  righteousness  shall  be  the  girdle  of  His  loins, 

And  faithfulness  the  girdle  of  His  reins  (Is.  xi.  4-5). 

He  will  judge  among  the  nations  ; 

He  will  fill  [the  places]  with  the  dead  bodies  ; 

He  will  strike  through  the  head  in  many  countries  (Ps.  ex.  6). 

These  prophecies,  indeed,  cover  the  whole  ground  of  His 
mediatorial  government,  but  they  have,  no  doubt,  a  special 
reference  to  this  closing  war. 


354  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

12  And  His  eyes  are  a  flame  of  fire,  and  on  His  head  are  many 
diadems,  and  He  hath  a  name  written  which  no  one  knoweth  but 
Himself. 

His  eyes  are  a  flame  of  fire,  as  in  the  opening  vision  (35), 
and  with  the  same  significance,  that  of  His  piercing  discern- 
ment of  the  secrets  of  men's  hearts  (36),  also  of  His  justice 
and  burning  zeal  against  all  ungodliness  and  unrighteous- 
ness. The  many  diadems  on  His  head  symbolize  the  same 
truth  that  is  more  literally  expressed  in  His  title,  '  King  of 
kings  and  Lord  of  lords';  a  truth  which  runs  through  the 
whole  Scripture  (332),  and  is  frequently  referred  to  in  these 
visions;  namely,  that  He  is  the  Lord  paramount  over  all 
secular  governments;  that  all  their  legitimate  authority  and 
powers  are  derived  and  held  from  Him,  and  consequently 
ought  always  to  be  exercised  in  His  name:  in  fact,  the  rebel- 
lion of  the  nations  which  He  now  comes  from  heaven  to 
suppress  largely  consists  in  their  withholding  from  Him  this 
honor.*  As  to  His  name  'which  no  one  knoweth  but  Him- 
self,' that  it  cannot  be  known  does  not  refer  to  its  outward 
form,  for  it  is  expressly  said  to  be  'written,'  which  implies 
that  it  can  be  read;  but  what  is  meant  is,  that  its  meaning  is 
inscrutable  to  finite  minds;  and  hence  we  may  probably  con- 
jecture that  it  is  the  'Son  of  God';  for  the  mysterious  im- 
port of  this  name  He  Himself  informs  us  is  known  to  none 
besides  Himself  but  God  the  Father:  "  No  one  knoweth  the 
Son  save  the  Father"  (Mat.  xi.  27),  Thus  we  are  instructed 
that  the  sonship  of  the  second  Person  of  the  Holy  Trinity  is 
a  sacred  mystery,  which,  however  much  we  may  see  in  it, 
signifies  more  than  we  can  ever  comprehend.  We  may  be 
assured,  however,  that  it  includes  participation  in  the  divine 
nature  after  a  transcendent  manner,  for  if  the  Son  were  a 
mere  man,  this  name  could  be  understood  by  men. 

13  And  he  is  clothed  in  a  vesture  dipped  in  blood,  and  His  name  is 
called  the  Word  of  God. 

This  blood  is  commonly  understood  by  the  commentators 


*  For  a  large  discussion  of  this  subject  see  Wisdom  of  Holy  Scri/ttirCy  xix. 


COMING  OF  THE  LORD  TO  SUBDUE  THE  NATIONS    355 

to  be  that  of  His  enemies,  as  in  the  prophecy  which  has  been 
referred  to: 

Who  is  this  that  cometh  from  Edom, 
With  dyed  garments  from  Bozrah  ?  (303). 

But  to  this  it  may  be  objected,  that  here  He  is  represented 
as  coming  from  heaven  to  execute  justice  upon  His  incorri- 
gible enemies,  and  consequently  He  has  not  yet  stained  His 
raiment  with  their  blood.  It  seems  better,  therefore,  to  un- 
derstand that  this  blood  is  His  own,  which  was  shed  to  atone 
for  the  sins  of  mankind.  His  vesture  which  is  dipped  in  it, 
or,  as  in  some  manuscripts,  sprinkled  with  it,  may  be  taken 
as  the  symbol  of  His  humanity,  which  He  put  on  as  a  gar- 
ment in  His  incarnation.  It  is,  then,  in  His  crucified  human 
nature  that  He  now  rides  forth  from  the  portals  of  heaven 
to  conquer  the  world.  The  name  here  given  Him,  '  the  Word 
of  God,'  occurs  nowhere  but  in  St.  John's  writings,  and  it 
completely  identifies  this  conqueror  with  the  divine  '  Logos  ' 
of  the  fourth  Gospel,  especially  in  its  proem:  "In  the  begin- 
ning was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and  the 
Word  was  God:  the  same  was  in  the  beginning  with  God. 
All  things  were  made  by  Him,  and  without  Him  was  not 
anything  made  that  was  made.  .  .  .  And  the  Word  became 
flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us;  and  we  beheld  His  glory,  glory 
as  of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace  and 
truth  "  (John  i.  1-14).  The  meaning  of  this  name  may  be 
partly  expressed  in  the  following  particulars:  (i)  Christ  is 
the  manifestation  of  God,  as  the  word  or  speech  of  a  man 
manifests  him  to  others:  (2)  He  is 'the  Messenger  of  the 
covenant '  (Mai.  iii.  i),  through  whom  God  delivers  His  word 
to  mankind:  (3)  As  God  incarnate  He  speaks  the  words  of 
God  with  absolute  authority,  as  where  it  is  said:  *'  He  taught 
them  as  one  having  authority,  and  not  as  the  scribes  "  (Mat. 
vii.  29),  Yet  these  particulars  do  by  no  means  exhaust  the 
significance  of  this  great  name,  which,  like  that  of  the  Son 
of  God,  is  a  divine  mystery. 

14  And  the  armies  which  are  in  heaven  followed  Him  upon  white 
horses,  clothed  in  fine  linen  white  [and]  pure. 


356  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

He  rides  forth  at  the  head  of  a  triumphal  procession,  being- 
followed  by  the  armies  of  heaven,  who  also  ride  upon  white 
horses,  and  are  clothed  in  fine  linen  white  and  pure,  to  de- 
note their  purity  of  character,  and  that  their  victory  and 
triumph  in  the  war  are  already  assured  (85).  In  these  visions 
both  saints  and  angels  are  thus  arrayed,  to  signify  that  they 
are  victorious  over  their  temptations  and  spiritual  enemies, 
and  are  pure  from  the  defilements  of  sin  (iii).  Hence  these 
celestial  armies  may  be  understood  to  include  both  these 
classes  of  holy  beings,  and  certainly  that  of  the  redeemed, 
'  for  the  fine  linen  is  the  righteousnesses  of  the  saints  '  (349); 
who,  having  warred  in  the  cause  of  their  King  during  their 
earthly  lives,  now  come  forth  from  heaven,  as  'the  called 
and  chosen  and  faithful'  (331},  to  share  His  triumph  and 
glory.  In  fine,  it  was  concerning  this  spiritual  transac- 
tion that  "  Enoch,  the  seventh  from  Adam,  prophesied,  say- 
ing. Behold,  the  Lord  came,  with  ten  thousand  of  His  holy 
ones,  to  execute  judgment  upon  all,  and  to  convict  all  the 
ungodly  of  all  their  works  of  ungodliness  which  they  have 
ungodly  wrought,  and  of  all  the  hard  things  which  ungodly 
sinners  have  spoken  against  Him  "  (Jude  14-15). 

15  And  out  of  His  mouth  goeth  forth  a  sharp  sword,  that  with  it 
He  should  smite  the  nations  ;  and  He  will  shepherd  them  with  a  rod  of 
iron ;  and  He  treadeth  the  winepress  of  the  wine  of  the  anger  of  the 
wrath  of  God  Almighty. 

This  sharp  sword  of  His  mouth  is  repeated  from  the 
opening  vision  with  the  same  significance  (37),  except  that 
here  its  double  edge  seems  intentionally  left  out,  perhaps  to 
denote  that  the  gracious  function  of  the  word,  in  slaying  the 
enmity  of  souls  and  saving  them,  is  not  to  be  prominent  in 
these  last  times  when  their  probation  is  well-nigh  closed, 
and  that  its  other  function  in  the  execution  of  divine  justice 
is  now  to  prevail.  Yet  the  fact,  that  the  Lord  is  represented 
with  this  sword,  and  similarly  in  other  particulars,  both  at 
the  opening  and  so  near  the  close  of  the  book,  confirms  the 
view,  that  this  vision  covers  the  ground  of  the  whole  dispen- 
sation, though  doubtless  with  special  reference  to  His  com- 


COMING  OF  THE  LORD  TO  SUBDUE   THE  NATIONS    357 

ing  at  the  establishment  of  His  millennial  kingdom.  That 
'  He  will  shepherd  the  nations  with  a  rod  of  iron  '  is  repeated 
from  the  Epistle  to  the  church  in  Thyatira  (78),  and  from  the 
vision  of  the  great  red  dragon,  where  its  meaning  has  been 
given  (236).  The  fulness  of  expression  in  His  'treading  the 
winepress  of  the  wine  of  the  anger  of  the  wrath  of  God  Al- 
mighty '  is  terribly  emphatic;  in  which  there  are  references 
to  the  punishment  of  great  Babylon  (323),  and  to  the  vin- 
tage of  the  earth,  where  these  awful  symbols  have  been^ 
already  explained  (303). 

16  And  He  hath  on  His  vesture  and  on  His  thigh  a  name  written,. 
KING  OF  KINGS  AND  LORD  OF  LORDS. 

This  great  name  or  title  expresses  in  words  the  precise 
idea  that  is  so  picturesquely  symbolized  by  the  many  dia- 
dems upon  His  head  (354).  It  is  written  both  upon  His 
vesture  and  upon  His  thigh,  the  former  of  which,  as  we  have 
just  seen  (356),  represents  His  humanity,  and  the  latter  fre- 
quently occurs  as  a  symbol  of  the  inmost  source  and  strength 
of  human  life,  as  where  it  is  said:  ''The  souls  belonging 
unto  Jacob  that  came  into  Egypt,  which  came  out  of  his 
thigh  (Gen.  xlvi.  26).  And  he  [Samson]  smote  them  [the 
Philistines]  hip  and  thigh  with  a  great  slaughter  "  (Judges 
XV.  8).  Hence  we  may  understand  that  this  name,  as  writ- 
ten upon  the  Lord's  vesture  and  thigh,  denotes  that  His 
authority  over  the  nations  and  their  governments  belongs  in- 
separably to  His  human  nature,  by  the  offering  of  which  in 
sacrifice  to  God  He  acquired  the  right  and  power  to  rule 
them,  and  to  be  acknowledged  in  all  governmental  acts  as 
their  Lord  paramount.  This  idea,  moreover,  is  beautifully 
set  forth  by  St.  Paul  as  follows:  "Jesus  Christ  .  .  .  being 
made  in  the  likeness  of  men,  and  being  found  in  fashion  as 
a  man,  humbled  Himself,  becoming  obedient  unto  death, 
yea,  the  death  of  the  cross:  wherefore,  God  also  hath  highly 
exalted  Him,  and  given  Him  the  name  which  is  above  every 
name;  that  at  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should  bow  of 
things  in  heaven,  and  things  in  earth,  and  things  under  the 
earth ;    and   that  every  tongue   should    confess    that   Jesus 


358  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

Christ  is  Lord   to  the  glory  of   God  the   Father"  (Phil.  ii. 

Thus  we  are  given  to  see,  with  the  eyes  of  our  faith,  the 
Lord  coming  from  heaven,  as  the  true  and  faithful  One,  as 
the  Son  and  the  Word  of  God,  as  the  King  of  kings  and 
Lord  of  lords,  with  the  tokens  of  His  crucified  humanity, 
and  the  insignia  of  His  royal  paramount  authority,  followed 
by  His  celestial  armies,  to  subdue  the  world  unto  Himself, 
and  to  execute  summary  punishment  upon  His  incorrigible 
enemies.  But  whether  this  is  to  be  a  visible  manifestation 
or  not,  is  much  disputed  by  the  commentators  (17).  I  shall 
not  undertake  positively  to  decide  this  controversy.  Yet 
it  seems  to  me  that  they  who  maintain  that  it  must  nec- 
essarily be  visible  do  labor  under  the  greater  difficulties. 
For,  as  we  have  seen,  there  are  reasons  for  believing  that 
the  vision  is  intended  to  cover  the  whole,  or  a  great  part,  of 
the  dispensation;  besides  which  the  literalism  of  such  a 
visible  appearance  seems  hardly  consistent  with  the  laws  of 
symbolic  interpretation;  and  what  reason  can  be  given  for  it 
which  does  not  equally  require  that  the  Lord  should  literally 
ride  forth  from  heaven  on  a  white  horse,  with  a  sword  com- 
ing out  of  His  mouth,  and  followed  by  His  saints  and  angels 
also  riding  upon  white  horses  ?  Therefore,  it  seems  better 
to  understand  that  what  is  here  symbolized  includes  all  the 
manifestations  of  Himself  by  which  He  establishes  His  king- 
dom in  the  world,  yet  with  special  reference  to  those  of  the 
last  times.  For  thus  we  shall  derive  the  greatest  help  from 
it  in  our  struggles  and  conflicts  with  the  evil  that  is  in  the 
world,  seeing  here  that  our  all-conquering  Lord,  with  all  the 
armies  of  heaven,  is  present  with  us,  and  that,  while  we  trust 
in  His  truth  and  faithfulness,  our  victory  and  triumph  over 
all  our  spiritual  enemies  are  assured. 


XLII 

FINAL  JUDGMENT  UPON  THE  BEA.ST  AND  THE  FALSE 
PROPHET  UPON  THE  ANTICHRISTIAN  POLITICAL  AXE 
ECCLESIASTICAL   POWERS      XIX    1 7-2 1 

This  vision  is  to  be  comprehended  as  a  further  unfolding 
of  what  is  summarily  contained  in  the  preceding  destruction 
of  the  great  antichristian  world-power  under  the  symbol  of 
Babylon  (337).  For  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet,  repre- 
senting antichristianity  as  embodied  in  political  and  ecclesi- 
astical forms,  are  particulars  included  in  that  power,  and  go 
down  with  it,  in  order  to  the  establishment  of  the  Lord's 
millennial  kingdom.  Here  they  are  represented  as  in  union 
with  each  other,  and  gathering  all  their  forces  to  make  head 
against  Him,  as  He  comes  forth  from  heaven  with  His  celes- 
tial armies.  But  He  overcomes  them,  and  they  are  cast  into 
the  lake  of  fire,  whilst  their  deluded  followers  are  slain  v/ith 
the  sword  that  comes  forth  out  of  His  mouth.  It  is  quite 
evident  that  every  particular  of  the  vision  is  loaded  with 
significance. 

17  And  I  saw  an  angel  standing  in  the  sun :  and  he  cried  with  a 
great  voice,  saying  to  all  the  birds  that  fly  in  midheaven,  Come  hither, 
be  gathered  together  unto  the  great  supper  of  God  ;  18  that  ye  may 
eat  the  flesh  of  kings,  and  the  flesh  of  captains  of  thousands,  and  the 
flesh  of  mighty  men,  and  the  flesh  of  horses,  and  of  them  that  sit  upon 
them,  and  the  flesh  of  all,  free  as  well  as  bond,  both  small  and  great. 

Various  reasons,  all  more  or  less  unsatisfactory,  have  been 
assigned  for  this  angel's  station  in  the  sun;  as  that  the  catas- 
trophe which  he  announces  starts  from  the  centre  of  the 
cosmical  system;  that  his  glory  may  correspond  to  the  great- 

(359) 


^60  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

ness  of  his  mission;  that  his  voice  may  be  heard  by  all  the 
birds  flying  in  midheaven:  to  which  I  venture  to  add  another, 
v.'hich  may  not  be  much  better,  namely,  that,  as  his  procla- 
mation is  one  of  judgment  and  slaughter,  he  stands  in  the 
sun  viewed  as  the  source  of  destructive  forces  (318).  He 
calls  all  the  birds  of  prey  to  come  together  to  *  the  great  sup- 
per of  God,'  i.  e.  to  the  feast  which  God  is  about  to  provide 
for  them  in  the  execution  of  His  justice  upon  the  armies  of 
the  beast  and  false  prophet.  Similar  representations  are 
frequent  in  the  prophets: 

And  thou,  son  of  man,  thus  saith  the  Lord  God  : 

Speak  unto  the  birds  of  every  sort, 

And  to  every  beast  of  the  field  : 

Assemble  yourselves  and  come  : 

Gather  yourselves  on  every  side 

Unto  my  sacrifice  that  I  do  sacrifice  for  you, 

Even  a  great  sacrifice  upon  the  mountains  of  Israel, 

That  ye  may  eat  fiesh  and  drink  blood. 

Ye  shall  eat  the  flesli  of  the  mighty. 

And  drink  the  blood  of  the  princes  of  the  earth. 

Of  rams,  of  lambs,  and  of  goats,  of  bullocks, 

All  of  them  fallings  of  Bashan. 

And  ye  shall  eat  fat  till  ye  be  full. 

And  drink  blood  till  ye  be  drunken  .  .  . 

And  ye  shall  be  filled  at  my  table  with  horses  and  with  chariots, 

With  mighty  men,  and  with  all  men  of  war, 

Saith  the  Lord  God. 

And  I  will  set  my  glory  among  the  nations. 

And  all  the  nations  shall  see  my  judgment  that  I  have  executed, 

And  my  hand  that  I  have  laid  upon  them  (Ez.  xxxix.  17-21). 

Our  Lord  also  employs  the  same  image  of  these  judgments: 
"As  the  lightning  cometh  out  of  the  east,  and  shineth  even 
unto  the  west,  so  shall  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  be: 
where  the  carcase  is,  there  will  the  eagles  be  gathered  to- 
gether" (Mat.  xxiv.  27).  In  these  prophecies,  as  in  the  text, 
the  birds  of  prey  may  be  taken  in  their  function  as  scaven- 
gers, to  represent  the  purification  of  the  earth  from  the 
moral  corruptions  of  'the  flesh  '  of  mankind;  and  the  de- 
struction of  horses  and  chariots  may  be  understood  as  rep- 
resenting that  of  all  the  means  and  instruments  wherewith 
the  earth  destroyers  have  wrought  their  works  of  violence 


FINAL  JUDGMENT  UPON  ANTICHRISTIAN  PO  WERS    36 1 

and  bloodshed.  But  what  is  most  worthy  of  attention  is  the 
appalling  picture  here  set  before  us  of  this  'great  sacrifice' 
in  these  judgments  upon  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men 
under  the  beast  and  false  prophet.  As  to  the  vexed  question, 
whether  a  literal  slaughter  or  a  spiritual  judgment  is  here 
intended,  this  ought  to  be  determined  by  the  symbolical 
character  of  the  whole  book,  and  of  this  vision  in  particular. 
For  it  seems  plain  enough  that  we  have  no  more  reason  to 
understand  that  what  is  here  signified  will  be  a  literal 
slaughter  than  that  an  angel  will  actually  stand  in  the  sun, 
and  call  the  birds  to  a  feast,  or  that,  when  they  come,  they 
will  eat  'chariots.'  Beyond  all  reasonable  doubt,  what  is 
here  represented  is  mainly  a  spiritual  judgment  upon  the 
evil  that  is  in  the  world,  by  which  it  will  be  overthrown  and 
destroyed,  although  this  may  involve  a  great  destruction  of 
human  life. 

19  And  I  saw  the  beast  and  the  kings  of  the  earth  and  their  armies 
gathered  together  to  make  the  war  against  Him  that  sat  upon  the 
horse  and  His  army. 

This  beast  is  the  one  that  represents  antichristian  secular 
power  (244),  upon  which  also  the  harlot  rides  (327),  and 
these  kings  with  their  armies  are  the  individual  political 
governments  with  their  subjects  or  citizens,  which  give  their 
power  to  the  beast,  and  war  with  him  against  the  Lamb  (331). 
The  distinction  between  the  beast  and  the  kings  seems  to  be, 
that  the  former  symbolizes  the  idea,  or  spiritual  power,  and 
the  latter  the  concrete  realization  of  it.  Their  forces  are 
now  gathered  together  unto  '  the  war,'  i,  e.  the  final  conflict 
preceding  the  millennium,  which  has  been  spoken  of  before 
(331).  The  Lord's  'army'  is  one,  in  contrast  with  their 
'armies,'  or  tumultuous  hosts.  There  is  no  description  of 
the  battle,  perhaps  to  signify  that  it  will  be  very  short,  with 
no  doubtful  issue;  only  the  result  is  given  as  follows: 

20  And  the  beast  was  taken,  and  with  him  the  false  prophet,  that 
wrought  the  signs  before  him,  wherewith  he  deceived  them  that  had 
the  mark  of  the  beast,  and  that  worshipped  his  image  :  these  two 
were  cast  alive  into  the  lake  of  fire  that  burneth  with  brimstone. 

16 


362 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 


The  false  prophet  is  here  completely  identified  with  the 
beast  that  represents  antichristian  ecclesiastical  power,  as 
another  symbol  of  the  same  idea,  by  the  words,  *  that 
wrought  the  signs  before  him,'  for  these  very  signs  were 
wrought  by  that  beast  (254).  Consequently  his  capture 
with  '  the  former  beast '  shows  that  these  two  forms  of  anti- 
christianity  have  united  their  forces  in  this  war,  as,  indeed, 
they  have  ever  been  in  the  closest  alliance.  The  rapid  pass- 
ing over  the  conflict  to  the  result  symbolizes  the  overwhelm- 
ing power  which  the  Lord  now  brings  to  bear  upon  them, 
and  the  suddenness  with  which  He  subverts  and  abolishes 
all  antichristian  political  and  ecclesiastical  organizations. 
But  in  what  sense  can  it  be  said  that  these  powers  are  '  cast 
alive  into  the  lake  of  fire '  ?  To  this  question  any  one  of 
three  different  answers  may  be  given:  (i)  The  vivid  personi- 
fication of  these  powers  is  thus  preserved,  and  their  being 
cast  into  this  lake  may  signify  their  utter  destruction:  (2) 
The  beast  and  the  false  prophet  may  be  taken  as  mere  sym- 
bols of  those  persons  who  have  upheld  and  exercised  these 
antichristian  powers,  for  which  these  persons,  as  living  souls, 
are  now  cast  into  the  lake:  (3)  The  expression  may  be  in- 
tended to  imply  that  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet  are  the 
symbols  of  two  or  more  evil  spirits,  angels  of  Satan,  by 
whom  those  two  forms  of  antichristianity  are  animated  (246), 
who  are  now  literally  cast  alive  into  hell:  and  this  last  inter- 
pretation is  confirmed  by  the  analogy  of  the  great  red 
dragon,  which  is  the  symbol  of  Satan,  and  by  the  fact  that 
he,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  is  '  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire  and 
brimstone,  where  also  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet  are  ' 
(Rev.  XX.  10). 

21  And  the  rest  were  slain  with  the  sword  of  Him  that  sat  upon 
the  horse,  which  goeth  forth  out  of  His  mouth,  and  all  the  birds  were 
filled  with  their  flesh. 

It  can  hardly  be  without  significance  that  this  striking  dis- 
tinction is  made  between  these  two  powers,  on  the  one  hand, 
and  their  armies  or  followers,  on  the  other.  For  it  is  not 
said  that  these  last  were  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire,  but  that 


FINAL  JUDGMENT  UPON  ANTICHRISTIAN  PO  WERS    363 

they  were  slain  with  the  sword  of  Him  that  sat  upon  the 
horse,  which  sword,  we  are  significantly  reminded,  goes  forth 
out  of  His  mouth  (356).  Now  this  sword  of  His  word 
necessarily  has  two  functions,  whether  its  two  edges  be 
mentioned,  or  not,  one  to  save,  the  other  to  destroy  (38). 
Hence  we  may  understand  that  what  is  here  intended  is  not 
altogether  the  execution  of  divine  justice  upon  those  who 
have  been  deceived  by  the  signs  and  wiles  of  the  false 
prophet;  but  that,  to  some  extent  at  least,  the  saving  func- 
tion of  the  word  may  be  exercised  upon  them,  in  slaying 
the  old  man,  the  carnal  mind,  in  them,  that  is  to  say,  '  their 
flesh';  in  delivering  them  from  the  deceptions  of  the  false 
prophet,  whereby  they  have  been  seduced  to  receive  his 
mark  and  worship  his  image;  and  in  bringing  them  back  to 
their  true  allegiance:  for  this  would  conform  to  the  interpre- 
tation which  has  been  given  to  the  symbol  of  the  birds 
being 'filled  with  their  flesh'  (360),  namely,  that  of  their 
being  purified  from  moral  corruptions.  It  may  also  be  in  this 
gracious  sense  that  we  are  to  understand  the  words  of  St. 
Paul:  "  For  He  must  reign  till  He  hath  put  all  enemies  under 
His  feet"  (i  Cor.  xv.  25).  It  must  be  conceded,  however, 
that  the  vision,  in  its  general  character  and  scope,  does  not 
warrant  us  in  regarding  this  gracious  function  of  the  sword 
going  forth  out  of  His  mouth  as  prominent  in  this  conflict: 
more  consistently  we  may  understand  that  these  followers  of 
the  beast  and  false  prophet  are  mostly  slain  by  it  in  the  sense 
that  upon  them  are  executed  all  its  threatenings  against  the 
incorrigibly  rebellious. 

Thus  we  have  seen  in  this  series  of  visions  the  overthrow 
and  destruction  of  the  great  antichristian  world-power,  and 
of  its  two  principal  offshoots  or  forms,  political  and  ecclesi- 
astical, and  we  are  now  prepared  for  the  immediate  ushering 
in,  as  in  the  next  vision,  of  the  millennial  kingdom.  These 
prophecies,  however,  have  doubtless  had  a  partial  fulfilment 
in  the  overthrov/  of  paganism,  in  the  triumphs  of  the  primi- 
tive church,  in  the  Reformation,  in  the  success  of  modern 
missions,  and  in  ever}^  advance  of  Christianity.  But  the 
antichristian  character  and  influence  of  the  church  of  Rome, 


364  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

and  of  the  governments  of  the  so-called  Christian  nations; 
the  selfishness  by  which  they  are  still  characterized,  the  de- 
ceitfulness  of  their  diplomacy,  the  immensit)''  of  their  mili- 
tary and  naval  armaments,  the  frequency  and  destructiveness 
of  their  wars  with  each  other,  and  their  oppression  of  feebler 
nations;  the  vast  accumulations  of  wealth  in  comparatively 
few  hands,  the  luxury  of  the  rich,  the  little  that  has  been 
accomplished  in  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the  labor- 
ing masses,  the  multitudes  who  are  still  sunk  in  poverty  and 
degradation,  the  prevalence  of  intemperance,  vice,  and 
misery,  of  social  and  political  immorality,  and  of  worldli- 
ness  in  all  branches  of  the  church:  from  all  this  it  is  quite 
certain  that  this  final  conflict  with  the  beast  and  the  false 
prophet,  and  "the  crowning  fulfilment  of  these  grand  proph- 
ecies, are  yet  to  come.  Let  us  labor  and  pray  without  ceas- 
ing that  they  may  be  hastened,  finding  ever  in  the  assured 
expectation  of  the  result,  as  here  predicted,  our  strength  and 
consolation. 


XLIII 

THE  BINDING  OF  SATAN      THE  FIRST  RESURRECTION      THE 
MILLENNIAL   KINGDOM       XX    1-6 

In  this  vision  we  have  a  prophecy  of  the  Lord's  millennial 
kingdom,  and  other  matters  of  the  first  importance,  as  all 
the  commentators  agree,  but  concerning  the  particulars  of 
which  there  is  the  greatest  diversity  of  opinion.  Without 
going  very  deeply  into  these  almost  endless  controversies, 
I  propose  to  give  here  what  seems  to  me  the  most  probable. 

I  And  I  saw  an  angel  coming  down  out  of  heaven,  having  the  key 
of  the  abyss  and  a  great  chain  in  his  hand  :  2  and  he  lard  hold  upon 
the  dragon,  the  old  serpent,  who  is  the  devil  and  Satan,  and  bound 
him  for  a  thousand  years,  3  and  cast  him  into  the  abyss,  and  shut  it 
up,  and  sealed  it  over  him  ;  that  he  should  deceive  the  nations  no  more 
till  the  thousand  years  should  be  accomplished  :  after  that  he  must  be 
loosed  for  a  little  time. 

Although  the  Seer  does  not  name  this  angel,  yet  we  may 
not  improbably  recognize  him  as  Michael,  who,  in  the  orig- 
inal war  among  the  angels,  conquered  Satan,  and  expelled 
him  from  heaven  (238),  The  abyss  is  a  place  of  torment  for 
Satan  and  his  angels  (180),  and  he  formerly  held  the  key  of 
it  (179),  but  now  it  seems  he  has  been  deprived  of  it,  and  it 
reappears  in  the  hand  of  this  angel;  which  may  denote  that 
a  great  repression  of  Satan's  power  has  taken  place  in  the 
destruction  of  Babylon,  the  beast,  and  the  false  prophet; 
and  now  he  is  to  be  shorn  of  what  remains  of  it  by  being 
chained  and  shut  up  in  his  own  place.  The  several  names 
by  which  he  is  here  characterized  have  occurred  before  (237), 
Elsewhere  also  he  is  called  Apollyon,  Abaddon,  a  star  fallen 
fr(>m  heaven,  and  the  angel  of  the  abyss,  from  which  he  lets 

(365) 


366  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YFSE 

loose  the  torments  of  human  life  (i8o);  and  we  have  seen 
him  standing  ready  to  devour  the  man-child  which  the 
woman  should  bring  forth  (236),  persecuting  her  seed,  giving 
his  authority  to  the  beast,  and  deceiving  the  whole  world 
(241).  But  now  he  is  bound  with  a  great  chain,  which  this 
angel  has  brought  down  from  heaven  with  the  key  of  the 
abyss,  to  denote  that  the  power  to  restrain  his  influence 
comes  immediately  from  God;  and  he  is  cast  into  his  own 
place,  and  shut  up  in  it,  literally  locked  or  keyed  up,  and 
it  is  sealed  over  him,  so  that  he  shall  deceive  the  nations 
no  more  for  a  thousand  years:  after  which  he  must  be  loosed 
for  a  short  time. 

The  general  meaning  of  this  symbolical  transaction  is 
quite  plain;  for,  of  course,  it  can  signify  nothing  less  than 
that  the  power  of  Satan  over  mankind,  with  the  evils  which 
are  the  products  of  his  agency,  shall  be  mightily  restrained 
and  diminished  during  these  thousand  years;  and  this  diminu- 
tion must  be  understood  as  applying  to  the  physical  and 
mental  diseases  which  now  afflict  mankind,  the  to: -nents  and 
miseries  which  he  lets  loose  from  the  abyss  (180).  It  is  not 
probable,  however,  that  these  evils,  together  with  sin  in 
which  they  originate,  will  be  altogether  exterminated; 
otherwise  sin  could  hardly  ever  break  forth  again,  as  we 
shall  find  that  it  does  at  the  close  of  the  thousand  years. 
The  length  of  this  period  will  be  considered  hereafter.  But 
that  Satan,  after  being  chained  and  shut  up  in  the  abyss, 
should  ever  be  let  loose  again,  is  one  of  the  greatest  mysteries 
of  the  divine  providence.  We  know,  indeed,  by  our  faith  in 
God,  that  He  must  have  the  best  reasons  for  it,  but  those 
reasons  He  has  not  seen  fit  to  reveal  to  us,  probably  because 
we  are  incapable  of  appreciating  them,  and  would  not  be 
able  to  bear  them,  as  in  the  case  of  what  *  the  seven  thunders 
spake'  (197).  In  this,  however,  we  have  one  of  those  numer- 
ous traits  of  the  Canonical  Scriptures  which  powerfully  evince 
their  divine  origin;  for  if  any  uninspired  author  had  under- 
taken to  write  such  a  book  as  this,  we  may  be  sure  that, 
having  once  got  the  devil  chained  and  shut  up  in  the  abyss, 
he  would  have  kept  him  there.    In  like  manner,  with  respect 


THE  FIRST  RESURRECTION  367 

to  Abraham's  lies,  the  fraud  by  which  Jacob  obtained  the 
birthright  and  blessing  of  his  brother,  David's  adulter}^,  his 
murder  of  Uriah,  Solomon's  defection  from  the  God  of  Israel, 
the  stiff-necked  perversity,  stupidity,  and  idolatry  of  the 
covenant  people  :  for  it  is  quite  certain  that  all  such  stains 
upon  the  glory  of  their  covenant  head,  forefathers,  and 
heroes  would  have  been  left  out  of  the  record  by  the 
national  historians,  if  they  had  not  been  divinely  inspired 
and  controlled. 

4  And  I  saw  thrones,  and  they  sat  upon  them,  and  judgment  was 
given  unto  them  :  and  [I  saw]  the  souls  of  them  that  had  been  behead- 
ed for  the  testimony  of  Jesus,  and  for  the  vvord  of  God,  and  [of  those] 
whosoever  did  not  worship  the  beast,  nor  his  image,  and  did  not  re- 
ceive the  mark  on  their  foreheads  nor  on  their  hands  :  and  they  lived 
and  reigned  with  Christ  a  thousand  years. 

These  souls  are  those  of  the  martyrs,  whom  we  have  seen 
under  the  altar  crying  unto  God  that  their  blood  may  be 
avenged  (139)  ;  also,  of  all  who  have  not  worshipped  the 
beast  out  of  the  earth,  i.  e.  who  have  kept  themselves  uncor- 
rupted  by  the  world-power  in  the  church;  and  of  all  who 
have  not  worshipped  the  image  of  the  beast  out  of  the  sea 
which  he  causes  to  be  set  up  (254),  i.  e.  who  have  not  sub- 
mitted themselves  to  the  temporal  power  of  the  apostate 
church;  and  of  all  who  did  not  receive  the  mark  on  their 
foreheads  nor  on  their  hands,  i.  e.  who  did  not  yield  their 
faculties  of  mind  or  body  to  subserve  her  purposes.  This 
fourfold  characterization  is  doubtless  intended  to  include  all 
the  true  people  of  God  in  the  spiritual  world  (114).  For 
they  are  represented  as  having  departed  out  of  this  life,  some 
of  them  as  martyrs;  and  they  are  not  yet 'clothed  upon' 
with  their  resurrection  bodies  (2  Cor.  v.  1-4),  as  it  would  seem 
from  their  being  called  'souls';  for  this  word,  though  it 
is  often  used  in  the  sense  of  persons,  seems  to  be  here  a 
chosen  and  emphatic  word,  as  in  the  similar  case  of  the  souls 
of  the  martyrs  under  the  altar  (139).  They  sit  upon  thrones, 
and  judgment  is  given  unto  them  in  fulfilment  of  many  proph- 
ecies: "Judgment  was   given   unto   the  saints  of  the  Most 


368  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

High;  and  the  time  came  that  the  saints  possessed  the  king- 
dom (Dan.  vii.  22).  Ye  who  have  followed  me  in  the  renewing, 
TcaXiyyEVEGia,  when  the  Son  of  Man  shall  sit  upon  the  throne 
of  His  glory,  ye  also  shall  sit  upon  twelve  thrones  judging 
the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel  (Mat.  xix.  28).  He  that  overcomethj 
I  will  give  unto  him  to  sit  with  me  in  my  throne  (104),  .  .  . 
Know  ye  not  that  the  saints  shall  judge  the  world  ?  .  .  . 
That  we  shall  judge  angels?"  (i  Cor.  vi.  2-3).  Just  what  the 
function  of  the  saints  will  be  in  their  judgment  of  men  and 
angels  is  not  plain,  and  may  never  be  known  till  '  the  day 
shall  declare  it'  (iii.  13).  The  thousand  years  of  their  living 
and  reigning  with  Christ  is  the  period  of  the  millennium,  and 
that  during  which  Satan  is  bound  and  shut  up  in  the  abyss  : 
but  when  it  shall  occur,  and  what  shall  be  its  actual  duration, 
are  almost  endlessly  disputed.  For  some  hold  that  it  is 
already  past,  others  that  it  is  now  passing,  and  others  still 
that  it  is  yet  to  come.  I  agree  with  these  last,  for  the  reason 
that  I  cannot  find  any  time  past  or  present  which  can  be 
fitly  represented  as  one  in  which  Satan  is,  or  has  been, 
chained  and  imprisoned;  although  I  believe  that  his  power 
and  influence  have  been  much  diminished  in  the  progress  of 
Christianity.  As  to  the  duration  of  the  millennium,  if  we 
compare  its  symbolical  thousand  years  with  42  months  and 
1,260  days,  the  measure  of  that  part  of  the  dispensation 
which  precedes  (216),  we  can  hardly  fail  to  understand  that 
it  will  continue  for  many  thousands  of  years.  But  as  10  is 
the  number  of  definite  limitation  (59),  and  1,000  is  the  cube 
of  10,  it  will  certainly  come  to  an  end,  as  we  shall  see  here- 
after. 

5  The  rest  of  the  dead  lived  not  till  the  thousand  years  were  ac- 
complished. This  is  the  first  resurrection.  6  Blessed  and  holy  is  he 
that  hath  part  in  the  first  resurrection :  over  these  the  second  death 
hath  no  authority ;  but  they  shall  be  priests  of  God  and  of  Christ,  and 
shall  reign  with  Him  for  a  thousand  years. 

We  have  here  to  deal  with  one  of  the  most  difficult  pas- 
sages in  the  Apocalypse,  and  with  a  great  controversy  be- 
tween two  schools  of  interpreters  upon  the  question.  What 


THE  FIRST  RESURRECTION 


369 


are  we  to  understand  by  the  words,  '  The  rest  of  the  dead 
lived  not  till  the  thousand  years  were  accomplished.  This  is 
the  first  resurrection'?  I  must  give  a  brief  summary  of  the 
arguments  on  both  sides. 

There  are  several  commentators  on  this  book,  whose  piety, 
scholarship,  and  general  ability  as  interpreters  of  Scripture, 
must  not  be  undervalued,  and  many  learned  clergymen, 
who  strenuously  maintain  that  this  resurrection  cannot  fairly 
be  understood  as  anything  but  a  literal  one;  in  other  words, 
that  the  saints  will  rise  from  the  dead,  and  be  clothed  with 
their  resurrection  bodies,  at  the  commencement  of  the  millen- 
nium; and  that  the  rest  of  the  dead  will  not  rise  until  the 
judgment  of  the  last  day.  The  reasons  given  for  this  under- 
standing of  the  passage  are  such  as  the  following,  and  it  can 
hardly  be  denied  that  they  are  of  great  force:  (i)  What 
seems  to  be  the  plain  and  most  natural  sense  of  the  words, 
in  which  a  comparison  or  contrast  is  implied  betv/cen  two 
resurrections  such  that,  if  one  of  these  be  taken  literally,  so 
must  the  other:  (2)  Wherever  the  resurrection  of  the  saints 
is  mentioned  in  Scripture,  it  is  '  from  the  dead,'  i.  e.  from  the 
rest  of  the  dead;  whilst  the  general  resurrection  is  always 
spoken  of  as  'of  the  dead':  (3)  Our  Lord  speaks  of  'those 
who  shall  be  accounted  worthy  to  attain  to  the  resurrection 
from  the  dead'  (Luke  xx.  35),  thereby  plainly  implying  that 
there  will  be  a  resurrection  to  which  the  unworthy  will  not 
attain:  St.  Paul  also  speaks  of  a  '  resurrection  from  the  dead  ' 
(Phil.  iii.  11),  to  attain  unto  which  he  constantly  strove, 
which,  therefore,  must  be  a  different  one  from  that  to  which 
all  will  attain,  whether  they  strive  or  not;  and  he  refers  to 
an  order  in  the  resurrection  according  to  which  '  Christ  is 
the  firstfruits,  then  they  that  are  Christ's,  at  His  coming' 
(i  Cor.  XV.  23);  elsewhere  also  he  declares  that  'the  dead  in 
Christ  shall  rise  first'  (i  Thes.  iv.  16):  (4)  The  literal  under- 
standing of  '  the  first  resurrection '  was  the  prevailing  one  in 
the  primitive  church. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  much  greater  number  of  interpreters, 
and,  to  say  the  least,  of  equal  ability,  as  strenuously  main- 
tain that  this  '  first  resurrection '  must  be  figuratively  under- 
16* 


370 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


Stood  as  the  raising  up  and  purification  of  the  soul  from 
death  in  trespasses  and  sins  unto  the  new  life  in  God;  and 
their  reasons  are  such  as  the  following:  (i)  It  is  not  certain 
that  the  resurrection  of  the  saints  is  always  spoken  of  as 

*  from  the  dead,'  for  it  would  seem  that  the  words  of  St. 
Paul,  *  So  also  is  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  ...  it  is 
sown  in  dishonor,  it  is  raised  in  glory'  (i  Cor.  xv.  42),  are 
applicable  to  no  other  resurrection  but  that  of  the  saints:  (2) 
The  word  resurrection,  and  the  others  which  express  or  im- 
ply that  idea,  are  often  used  in  a  figurative  sense,  to  signify 
the  raising  up  and  purification  of  the  soul  from  spiritual 
death,  as  where  it  is  said,  '  Awake,  thou  that  sleepest, 
and  arise  from  the  dead,  and  Christ  will  give  thee  light 
(Eph.  V.  14).  Ye  are  risen  with  Him  through  the  faith  of  the 
operation  of  God'  (Col.  ii.  12):  (3)  Those  who  are  raised  in 
the  first  resurrection  are  spoken  of  as  'souls,'  which  seems 
to  imply  that  they  are  not  yet  clothed  with  their  resurrection 
bodies:  (4)  In  the  blessing  pronounced  upon  those  who  have 
part  in  the  first  resurrection,  their  blessedness  and  holiness 
are  made  to  depend  upon  their  having  part  in  it;  but  St. 
Paul  informs  us  that,  at  the  final  coming  of  the  Lord,  there 
will  be  saints  still  alive,  who  will  not  die  at  all,  but  '  be 
changed  in  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye'  (i  Cor.  xv. 
51),  and  who  consequently  will  never  partake  in  the  blessed- 
ness and  holiness  of  this  resurrection,  if  it  is  to  be  a  literal 
one  :  and  are  those  who  shall  be  raised  in  this  first  resurrec- 
tion the  only  ones  over  whom  '  the  second  death  shall  have 
no  authority'?  (5)  It  does  not  follow  from  the  literalness  of 
the  second  resurrection  that  the  first  must  also  be  a  literal 
one,  for  there  are  a  first  and  a  second  death,  one  of  which  is 
literal,  and  the  other  figurative  or  spiritual;  consequently 
there  may  be  a  similar  difference  between  these  two  resur- 
rections: (6)  Such  a  state  of  society  as  that  of  the  resur- 
rected  saints  in   their   glorified    spiritual    bodies,   in   which 

*  they  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage '  (Mat.  xxii. 
30),  living  on  earth  with  men  and  women  in  their  mortal 
state,  is  hardly  conceiv'^able,  and  seems  more  like  the  gro- 
tesque   and    bizarre    extravagances    of    Hinduism  than  the 


THE  LORD'S  MILLENNIAL  REIGN  371 

sobriety  of  the  Christian  religion:  (7)  It  would  be  strange, 
indeed,  and  contrary  to  the  whole  analogy  of  Scripture,  that 
a  doctrine  of  such  vast  significance  as  the  literal  resurrec- 
tion of  the  righteous  a  thousand  years  before  that  of  the 
wicked,  and  their  living  upon  the  earth  during  all  this  time 
in  association  with  mortal  men,  should  be  revealed  nowhere 
else  but  in  this  one  passage  of  the  most  symbolical  book  in 
the  Sacred  Canon. 

I  shall  not  undertake  positively  to  decide  between  these 
two  views,  supported  as  both  are  by  such  strong  arguments 
and  such  high  authorities.  Yet  I  cannot  help  inclining  to 
the  latter,  that  there  will  be  but  one  literal  or  bodily  resur- 
rection both  of  the  just  and  the  unjust,  which,  of  course, 
will  include  *  the  rest  of  the  dead  who  lived  not  till  the  thou- 
sand years  were  accomplished  ';  that  what  is  meant  by  the 
souls  of  the  saints  living  and  reigning  with  Christ  in  this 
vision  is,  that  they  are  truly  alive,  and  participate  in  His 
throne  and  glory  with  a  fulness  greatly  enlarged  and  en- 
hanced by  the  perfection  of  His  millennial  reign.  It  seems 
to  me  that  this  will  be  blessedness  and  glory  enough  for  the 
white-robed  people,  and  that  it  is  hardly  consistent  with 
their  coming  back  to  this  earth  to  associate  with  sinful  men 
and  women  in  the  flesh.  But  I  leave  this  vexed  question  to 
be  decided  by  the  event.  Meanwhile,  with  this  provisional 
understanding  of  the  first  resurrection,  we  see  that  the  bless- 
ing upon  those  who  have  part  in  it  comprehends  all  the  true 
children  of  God,  all  who  have  been  'born  of  the  Spirit,' 
'  born  from  above '  (John  iii.  2-8),  all  who  have  been  new 
'  created  in  righteousness  and  the  holiness  of  truth  '  (Eph. 
iV.  24).  Hence  the  second  death,  consisting  in  the  punish- 
ment of  the  lake  of  fire,  can  have  no  authority  over  them, 
i.  e.  they  cannot  be  hurt  by  it ;  but  they  shall  be  priests  of 
God  and  of  Christ,  to  offer  spiritual  and  ever  acceptable 
sacrifices  and  service,  and  they  shall  reign  with  Him  as  par- 
takers of  His  millennial  throne  and  glory. 

In  conclusion,  we  see  here  that  the  Lord's  millennial  reign, 
though  of  such  immense  duration,  greater,  as  it  would  seem 
from  comparison  of  its  thousand  years  with  other  periods 


372  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

mentioned  in  the  book,  than  the  whole  preceding  part  of  the 
dispensation,  and  perhaps  than  all  preceding  time  of  man's 
history,  is  here  dispatched  in  two  or  three  sentences,  with 
hardly  any  particulars.  This  is  very  remarkable,  especially 
when  we  remember  what  full  particulars  we  have  had  of  the 
destruction  of  Babylon,  and  can  hardly  be  without  signifi- 
cance; for  naturally  we  should  have  expected  that  the  glories 
of  that  period  would  have  been  portrayed  in  ample  details 
and  glowing  colors.  Hence  we  have  the  conjecture  which 
has  been  hazarded  (198)  confirmed  ;  namely,  that  these 
glories  were  the  subject  of  the  revelations  made  by  the 
seven  thunders,  which  the  Seer  was  forbidden  to  record, 
perhaps  because  the  church  in  the  wilderness  could  not  bear 
them.  But  these  long  ages  of  purity,  peace,  and  prosperity 
in  the  church,  and  consequently  of  her  unparalleled  efficiency 
in  the  salvation  of  mankind,  when  the  great  antichristian 
world-power,  the  beast,  and  the  false  prophet  shall  have 
been  overthrown  and  destroyed,  and  Satan  put  in  chains  and 
shut  up  in  the  abyss,  ought  to  be,  as  they  have  ever  been  to 
all  the  pious  and  godly  among  men,  the  object  of  our  preva- 
lent prayers,  unwearied  labors,  and  comforting  hopes.  For 
although  a  period  of  renewed  conflict  will  come  after  them, 
it  will  be  very  brief.  And  who  can  doubt  but  that  multi- 
tudes which  no  man  can  number  will  be  saved  during  the 
millennium,  to  make  it  more  and  more  evident  to  all  worlds 
that  '  where  sin  abounded,  grace  did  much  more  abound  * 
(Rom.  V.  20).  Indeed,  it  may  well  be  that  they  who  are 
finally  lost  will  be  in  comparison  with  the  saved  during  this 
period  alone  as  the  small  dust  of  the  balance  to  the  treasures 
that  are  weighed  in  it,  or  as  the  stalk  and  husk  and  chaff  to 
the  abundant  harvest  of  precious  grain.  God  grant  that  it 
may  be  so.     Amen. 


XLIV 

THE     POSTMILLENNIAL     CONFLICT        THE    JUDGMENT    OF 
SATAN      XX   7-10 

This  vision  also  is  one  of  very  difficult  interpretation. 
The  most  that  I  can  hope  to  do  is  to  gather  up  the  scattered 
ra)^s  of  light  which  gleam  from  its  words  and  imagery,  along 
with  those  which  are  cast  upon  it  from  the  preceding  revela- 
tions of  this  book  and  other  prophetic  Scriptures. 

7  And  when  the  thousand  years  are  accomplished,  Satan  shall  be 
loosed  out  of  his  prison,  8  and  will  come  forth  to  deceive  the  nations 
which  are  in  the  four  corners  of  the  earth,  Gog  and  Magog,  to  gather 
them  together  unto  the  war,  the  number  of  whom  is  as  the  sand  of 
the  sea. 

The  millennial  kingdom  of  the  Lord,  as  a  definitely  lim- 
ited period,  will  come  to  an  end  in  the  course  of  time,  and 
the  great  enemy  of  God  and  man,  after  having  been  kept  in 
prison  and  in  chains  for  many  ages,  will  be  let  loose  again, 
and  come  forth  to  deceive  the  nations,  from  which  will  arise 
the  final  conflict  between  good  and  evil  in  this  world.  But 
why  these  things  should  be  so  is  nowhere  revealed,  and  no 
satisfactory  solution  of  the  problem  has  ever  been  suggested. 
It  is,  as  has  been  said,  one  of  the  greatest  mysteries  of  the 
divine  providence  {366). 

But  what  nations  are  these  whom  Satan  will  deceive  and 
stir  up  to  rebellion  against  the  Lord  and  to  make  war  upon 
His  people  ?  Are  they  such  as  have  never  been  Christianized, 
even  during  the  millennium,  or  Christian  nations  whom 
Satan  seduces  into  apostasy  ?  From  the  words  in  which 
they  are  described,  as  dwelling  '  in  the  four  corners  of  the 
earth,'  it  has  been  commonly  supposed  that  they  are  heathen 

(373) 


374  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

peoples  having  their  seats  in  the  extremities  of  the  habitable 
globe;  but  it  seems  better  to  take  the  number  '  four'  in  this 
expression  in  its  common  symbolical  meaning  of  universal- 
ity, as  in  the  case  of  the  four  angels  who  hold  the  four  winds 
of  the  earth  (152).  Flence  the  expression  may  be  taken  as 
designating  the  nations  of  the  earth  in  general,  or  univer- 
sally, including  Gog  and  Magog,  whom,  after  they  have  been 
Christianized,  Satan  seduces  into  apostasy;  for  there  is 
nothing  more  incredible  or  mysterious  in  such  a  universal 
national  defection  than  that  he  should  be  loosed  out  of  his 
prison.  Moreover,  this  interpretation  is  confirmed  by  what 
is  said  concerning  Gog  and  Magog  in  the  preceding  Scrip- 
tures, For  in  the  ethnological  table  Magog  is  mentioned 
along  with  his  brethren,  the  other  sons  of  Japheth,  Gomer, 
Madai,  Javan,  Tubal,  Meshech,  and  Tiras  (Gen,  x,  2),  who 
are  commonly  recognized  as  the  ancestors  of  the  ancient 
Thracians,  Medes,  Greeks,  Muscovites,  Iberians,  and  others. 
In  Ezekiel,  also,  in  a  passage  which  requires  to  be  studied 
in  this  connection,  the  Persians,  Ethiopians,  and  Libyans  are 
included  in  the  armies  of  Gog  and  Magog  (Ez.  xxxviii., 
xxxix.).  Now  these  peoples  include  a  large  proportion  of 
those  that  were  known  in  ancient  times,  and  we  cannot  sup- 
pose that  all  of  them  will  be  left  out  of  the  Lord's  millennial 
kingdom,  especially  since  many  of  them  have  been  already 
at  least  nominally  Christianized.  It  may,  indeed,  be  gathered 
from  the  passages  in  the  prophet  just  referred  to  that  the 
names,  Gog  and  Magog,  were  a  general  designation  of 
northern  heathen  nations,  but  even  there  they  were  evidently 
taken  symbolically  to  designate  the  enemies  of  the  Lord 
and  His  kingdom  in  the  last  times.  These,  as  we  are  here 
informed,  in  multitudes  like  the  sand  on  the  sea-shore,  Satan 
will  gather  together  unto  'the  war,'  i.  e.  to  the  final  conflict 
between  good  and  evil  in  this  world  which  has  been  previ- 
ously foreshadowed  (320), 


9  And  they  went  up  over  the  breadth  of  the  earth,  and  compassed 
the  camp  of  the  saints  about,  and  the  beloved  city  ;  and  fire  came 
down  out  of  heaven  and  devoured  them. 


FINAL  CONFLICT  AND  JUDGMENT  OF  SATAN       375 

The  expression  *  they  went  up '  seems  to  refer  to  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth  conceived  of  as  an  elevated  plateau,  just  as 
the  Arabs  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  great  Sahara  now 
speak  of  going  up  on  the  desert.  These  nations,  being  as 
the  sand  of  the  sea  for  multitude,  and  covering  the  breadth 
of  the  earth,  represent  the  universal  character  of  this  nation- 
al apostasy.  *  The  beloved  city,'  which  they  besiege  on  all 
sides,  is,  of  course,  Jerusalem,  here  taken  symbolically,  as  I 
understand,  to  represent  the  church  which  has  remained  true 
and  faithful  to  her  allegiance,  notwithstanding  the  general 
revolt  and  rebellion:  and  she  is  further  characterized  as  'the 
camp  of  the  saints,'  to  signify  that  they  are  not  taken  by 
surprise,  but  are  found  in  a  state  of  preparation  for  war  and^ 
defence  against  this  desperate  and  final  onslaught.  But  they 
have  no  need  to  put  forth  their  strength,  for  this  is  God's 
battle,  and  He  will  fight  for  them,  as  in  the  historical  types 
to  which  there  are  here  significant  references:  "  Fear  ye  not, 
stand  still,  and  see  the  salvation  of  the  Lord,  which  He  will 
work  for  you  to-day:  for  the  Egyptians  whom  ye  have  seen 
to-day,  ye  shall  see  them  again  no  more  forever:  the  Lord 
will  fight  for  you,  and  ye  shall  hold  your  peace  (Ex.  xiv. 
13-14).  Fear  not  ye,  neither  be  dismayed  by  reason  of  this 
great  multitude;  for  the  battle  is  not  yours,  but  God's.  .  .  . 
Ye  shall  not  need  to  fight  this  battle:  set  yourselves^. stand 
ye  still,  and  see  the  salvation  of  the  Lord"  (2  Chron.  xx.  15- 
17).  So  in  this  great  antitype,  the  saints  have  no  need  to 
raise  a  hand  against  their  enemies;  for  the  fire  of  God,  i.  e. 
the  divine  justice,  of  which  fire  is  the  constant  symbol 
(166),  comes  down  from  heaven  and  consumes  them.  The 
prophecies  concerning  this  great  event  are  very  numerous, 
and  they  throw  some  light  upon  the  manner  in  which  this 
rebellious  host  is  broken  up  and  destroyed:  "Son  of  man, 
set  thy  face  toward  Gog,  of  the  land  of  Magog,  the  chief 
prince  of  Meshech,  and  Tubal,  and  prophesy  against  him, 
and  say,  Thus  saith  the  Lord:  Behold,  I  am  against  thee. 
O  Gog,  chief  prince  of  Meshech,  and  Tubal  .  .  .  Persia, 
Cush,  and  Put  .  .  .  Gomer,  and  all  his  hordes  .  .  .  Togar- 
mah  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  north,  and  all  his  hordes 


376 


WISDOM  OF  THE  A  FOCAL  YFSE 


.  .  .  even  many  peoples  with  thee.  .  .  .  Thou  wilt  come  up, 
thou  wilt  come  like  a  storm,  thou  wilt  be  like  a  cloud  to 
cover  the  land,  thou  and  all  thy  hordes,  and  many  peoples 
with  thee.  .  .  .  Thou  wilt  come  up  against  my  people  Israel 
PS  a  cloud  to  cover  the  land:  it  will  come  to  pass  in  the  lat- 
ter days.  .  .  .  And  I  will  call  for  a  sword  against  him.  .  .  . 
Every  man's  sword  shall  be  against  his  brother:  and  I  will 
plead  against  him  with  pestilence  and  with  blood;  and  I  will 
rain  upon  him,  and  upon  his  hordes,  and  upon  the  many 
peoples  that  are  with  him,  an  overflowing  shower,  and  great 
hailstones,  fire  and  brimstone.  .  .  .  And  I  will  send  a  fire 
upon  Magog  (Ez.  xxxviii.).  And  they  that  dwell  in  the  cities 
of  Israel  shall  go  forth,  and  shall  make  fires  of  the  weapons 
and  burn  them.  .  .  .  They  shall  make  fires  of  them  seven 
years.  .  .  .  And  there  shall  they  bury  Gog  and  his  multi- 
tude: and  they  shall  call  it.  The  Valley  of  the  Multitude  of 
Gog:  and  seven  months  shall  the  house  of  Israel  be  burying 
of  them,  that  they  may  cleanse  the  land  "  (Ez.  xxxix.).  The 
fulness  of  these  prophecies,  from  which  only  meagre  extracts 
are  given  here,  represents  the  great  importance  of  the  event; 
upon  which,  moreover,  the  commentators  cite  the  following 
from  the  Rabbinical  books:  "When  Gog  and  Magog  shall 
see  the  war,  Messiah  will  say  unto  them,  For  what  have  ye 
come  hither?  They  will  answer,  Against  the  Lord,  and 
against  His  Christ.  ...  In  the  end  of  days,  Gog  and  Ma- 
gog will  come  up  against  Jerusalem,  and  shall  fall  by  the 
hands  of  King  Messiah;  and  for  seven  years  of  days  the 
sons  of  Israel  will  make  their  fires  from  their  weapons." 

10  And  the  devil,  the  deceiver  of  them,  was  cast  into  the  lake  of 
fire  and  brimstone  ;  -where  also  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet  are : 
and  the}?^  shall  be  tormented  day  and  night  forever  and  ever. 

Such  is  the  end  of  Satan's  career,  as  also  it  was  preor- 
dained from  the  time  that  he  fell  from  heaven  (237),  and  set 
himself  to  work  woe  to  mankind.  Now  he  is  cast  into 
the  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone,  which  is  the  second  death, 
i.  e.  he  is  subjected  to  the  utmost  punitive  energ}"  of  the 
divine  justice;    whither  have  already  preceded  liim  his  two 


FINAL  CONFLICT  AND  JUDGMENT  OF  SA  TAN       377 

great  instruments  of  evil,  the  antichristian  political  and 
ecclesiastical  powers,  i.  e.  those  who  have  upheld  and  exer- 
cised these  powers,  and  perhaps  the  fallen  angels  by  whom 
they  have  been  animated  and  inspired  (246).  From  this 
doleful  prison  they  shall  never  more  escape,  but  shall  be 
incessantly  tormented  therein  forever  and  ever.  For  moral 
evil  originated,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  purely  spiritual 
nature  of  Satan  and  his  angels,  who  were  not  liable  to 
temptation,  as  was  man,  through  union  of  that  nature  with 
a  material  element  (238);  and  they  seem  to  have  identified 
themselves  wholly  with  evil.  Hence  it  became  inseparable 
from  them.  For  them  no  atonement  could  be  made,  and  no 
salvation  was  possible.  But  in  man  sin  was  not  self-origin- 
ated, but  came  in  from  a  foreign  source,  through  his  lower 
nature,  his  flesh,  with  which  his  spiritual  nature  was  united 
in  one  personality,  under  the  temptation  of  Satan.*  Hence 
it  is  essentially  separable  from  the  nature  of  man;  for  him 
salvation  is  possible,  and  can  be  perfected  when  '  the  body 
of  this  death '  (Rom.  vii.  24)  shall  drop  off,  and  he  shall  be 
clothed  upon  with  his  spiritual  body  at  the  resurrection  of 
the  just  (296).  Hence  also  it  is  not  until  the  souls  and  bodies 
of  Satan's  followers  are  separated,  and  their  spiritual  nature, 
their  inmost  essence,  is  found  to  be  utterly  corrupted,  and 
wholly  identified  with  evil,  that  they  are  made  partakers 
with  him  of  eternal  torment.  Hence  again  the  necessity  for 
the  judgment  after  death,  which  the  next  vision  brings  into 
view. 

The  final  extinction  of  the  evil  that  is  in  the  world  was 
foreseen  from  the  mountain-tops  of  prophecy  from  the  time 
when  it  originated.  In  was  in  the  promise  that  'the  Seed  of 
the  woman  should  crush  the  head  of  the  serpent '  (Gen.  iii, 
15),  and  it  grows  clearer  and  more  certain  in  all  the  subse- 
quent prophecies.  The  Hebrew  seers  never  waver  or  falter. 
Their  trumpets  give  no  uncertain  sound.  Even  in  the  dark- 
est hours,  when  decay  and  corruption  are  almost  universal, 
when  the  feeble  germs  of  truth  and  life  seem  about  to  perish, 


*  For  the  nature  of  man's  first  sin,  see  Wisdom  of  Holy  Scripture^  iv. 


37S  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

they  continue  to  cry  aloud,  and  spare  not:  The  evil  shall 
<jo  down;  the  good  shall  be  established;  there  is  a  good 
time  coming,  when  truth  and  justice  shall  prevail;  when 
'the  earth  shall  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  as  the 
waters  cover  the  sea'  (Is.  xi.  9).  And  by  this  hope  we  are 
saved;  for  despair  of  the  final  destiny  of  man  is  death  to 
every  pure  and  noble  aspiration  and  to  all  spiritual  energy, 
and  contains  in  itself  a  germ  of  the  worm  that  never  dies 
and  of  the  fire  that  is  never  quenched. 


XLV 

THE   RESURRECTION   OF   THE    DEAD    AND    THE   JUDGMENT 
AFTER  DEATH      XX    II-14 

This  vision  involves  many  questions  of  deep  interest  and 
great  diflficulty,  such  as  the  following:  What  is  the  resurrec- 
tion ?  What  is  the  significance  of  the  judgment  after  death  ? 
Who  are  they  that  are  judged?  How  are  the  saints  judged 
according  to  their  works  ?  What  is  meant  by  the  opening 
of  the  books,  and  by  Death  and  Hades  being  cast  into  the 
lake  of  fire  ?  It  may  not  be  possible  for  us  to  obtain  wholly 
satisfactory  answers  to  all  such  questions  as  these,  yet  it 
would  be  strange  if  we  should  be  left  altogether  in  the  dark 
upon  matters  of  such  grave  importance. 

II  And  I  saw  a  great  white  throne,  and  Him  that  sat  upon  it,  from 
whose  face  the  earth  and  the  heaven  fied  away,  and  for  them  no  place 
was  found. 

This  throne  is  'great'  in  contrast  with  the  inferior  thrones 
of  the  four  and  twenty  elders  (i  1 1),  and  with  those  upon  which 
the  saints  have  reigned  during  the  millennium  (367),  but 
more  especially  as  significant  of  the  greatness  of  Him  who 
sits  upon  it.  It  is  'white'  to  represent  the  immaculate 
purity  and  the  victorious  efficacy  of  the  judgment  to  be  dis- 
pensed from  it  (35).  He  who  sits  upon  it  is  God  in  His 
substantial  and  eternal  unity.  For  the  idea  of  the  Father 
cannot  be  excluded,  because  in  this  book  He  is  constantly 
designated  as  'He  who  sits  upon  the  throne'  (109);  neither 
can  the  Holy  Spirit,  because  it  is  His  work  to  'convict  the 
world  in  respect  of  sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment' 
(John  xvi.  8).  Yet  the  mental  image  which  we  are  to  form 
of  the  Judge  is  that  of  the  Son,  in  whom  'dwelleth  all  the 

(379) 


380  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily'  (Col.  ii.  9);  "  For  the  Father 
judgeth  no  man,  but  hath  committed  all  judgment  unto  the 
Son  (John  v.  22).  He  hath  appointed  a  day  in  which  He 
will  judge  the  world  in  righteousness  by  the  man  whom  He 
hath  ordained,  whereof  He  hath  given  assurance  unto  all 
men  in  that  He  hath  raised  Him  from  the  dead"  (Acts  xvii.  31). 
'The  earth  and  the  heaven'  may  be  taken  here  both  in  their 
literal  and  symbolical  import,  and  their  fleeing  away  from 
before  the  face  of  the  Judge,  so  that  no  place  is  found  for 
them,  represents  the  awful  glory  of  His  countenance  as  be- 
ing such  that  nothing  in  the  old  corrupt  world  can  stand 
before  it;  as  such  that  in  view  of  it  the  physical  universe  is 
now  preternaturally  convulsed,  as  described  at  the  opening 
of  the  sixth  seal  (146),  and  perhaps  literally  consumed  with 
fire,  as  at  the  destruction  of  Babylon  (345);  as  such  that  be- 
fore it  the  natural  life  of  man,  with  all  its  mediate  sources  of 
light  (252),  now  passes  away  forever,  either  by  death,  or  by 
that  instantaneous  cliange  of  which  St.  Paul  speaks  in  the 
words:  "We  shall  not  all  sleep,  but  we  shall  all  be  changed, 
in  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  at  the  last  trump" 
(i  Cor.  XV.  51). 

12  And  I  saw  the  dead,  the  great  and  the  small,  standing  before 
the  throne  ;  and  books  -were  opened ;  and  another  book  v^as  opened, 
vrhich  is  [the  book]  of  life  ;  and  the  dead  •were  judged  out  of  the 
things  written  in  the  books  according  to  their  works. 

These  words  evidently  declare  that  all  mankind,  having 
passed  out  of  this  life,  do  now  appear  before  the  great  white 
throne  and  are  judged  according  to  their  works.  Those 
commentators  who  take  the  first  resurrection  literally,  i.  e. 
who  understand  that  the  saints  are  raised  from  the  dead  at 
the  commencement  of  the  millennium  (369),  are  compelled 
to  exclude  them  from  this  resurrection  and  consequently 
from  this  judgment;  and  they  give  no  account  that  I  can 
find  of  what  is  to  be  done  with  those  saints  who  are  born, 
live,  and  die  during  the  millennium.  But  the  words  here 
suggest  no  such  limitation,  and  it  is  palpably  inconsistent 
with  a  multitude  of  other  Scriptures,  which  declare  that  all 


RESURRECTION  AND  JUDGMENT  OF  THE  DEAD    381 

men,  saints  and  sinners,  shall  stand  before  this  throne,  and 
be  judged  according  to  their  works:  "  For  we  must  all  ap- 
pear before  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ,  that  each  one  may 
receive  the  things  [done]  in  the  body,  according  to  that  he 
hath  done,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad"  (2  Cor.  v.  10).  This 
judgment  and  these  books  are  spoken  of  also  by  the  prophet 
Daniel  as  follows:  "  The  Ancient  of  Days  did  sit,  whose  gar- 
ment was  white  as  snow,  and  the  hair  of  His  head  like  the 
pure  wool:  a  fiery  stream  issued  and  came  forth  before  Him 
.  .  .  and  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  stood  before  Him: 
the  judgment  was  set,  and  the  books  were  opened "  (Dan. 
vii.  9-10).  These  books  are  evidently  the  symbol  of  God's 
perfect  and  imperishable  knowledge  of  all  human  actions 
and  characters  (86),  whether  manifested  externally  through 
the  bodily  organs,  or  hidden  away  in  the  secrecy  of  the 
heart:  "  For  not  the  hearers  of  the  law  are  just  before  God, 
but  the  doers  of  the  law  shall  be  justified  ...  in  the  day 
when  God  will  judge  the  secrets  of  men  ...  by  Jesus 
Christ  (Rom.  ii.  12-16),  who  v/ill  bring  to  light  the  hidden 
things  of  darkness,  and  make  manifest  the  counsels  of  the 
heart"  (i  Cor.  iv.  5).  The  words,  'according  to  their  works,' 
express  the  general  principle  upon  which  this  judgment  will 
be  given,  namely,  that  of  justice,  for  God  is  immutably  just: 
"  Shall  not  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  do  right  ?  (Gen.  xviii, 
25).  Justice  and  judgment  are  the  establishment  of  His 
throne  "  (Ps.  xcvii.  2).  He  is  under  no  conceivable  tempta- 
tion to  do  wrong  to  any  of  His  creatures,  and  He  is  not  lia- 
ble to  error  in  His  knowledge  of  actions  or  characters,  or  of 
the  secrets  of  the  human  heart.  All  the  aggravations,  and 
all  the  palliations  as  well,  of  men's  sins  of  thought,  feeling,  and 
act,  will  be  fully  considered,  and  allowed  their  due  weight 
in  determining  the  sentences  of  that  day. 

A  more  special  form  of  this  general  principle,  however,  is, 
that  men  will  be  held  responsible  according  to  their  light: 
"  The  servant  that  knew  his  Lord's  will,  and  prepared  not 
himself,  neither  did  according  to  His  will,  shall  be  beaten 
with  many  stripes:  but  he  that  knew  not,  and  did  things 
worthy  of  stripes,  shall  be  beaten  with  few  stripes:    and  to 


382  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

whomsoever  much  is  given,  of  him  shall  much  be  required" 
(Luke  xii.  47-48).  ( i)  This  principle  will  condemn  the  heathen 
who  have  not  lived  up  to  their  light:  "  Because  that  which 
may  be  known  of  God  is  manifest  among  them,  for  God  hath 
showed  it  unto  them;  for  the  invisible  things  of  Him  from  the 
creation  of  the  world  are  clearly  seen,  being  perceived  by  the 
things  that  are  made,  even  His  eternal  power  and  Godhead,  so 
that  they  are  without  excuse  "  (Rom.  i.  19-20) :  not,  indeed,  as 
having  sinned  against  the  revealed  will  of  God,  but  against 
'  the  law  written  in  their  hearts,  their  conscience  bearing  wit- 
ness therewith,  and  their  thoughts  one  with  another  accusing 
or  else  excusing  them'  (Rom.  ii.  9-15).  (2)  With  a  still 
more  crushing  weight  will  this  principle  condemn  the  unbe- 
lieving Jews;  for  it  will  bring  'wrath  and  indignation,  trib- 
ulation and  anguish  upon  every  soul  of  man  that  doeth  evil, 
of  the  Jew  first,  and  also  of  the  Greek.  .  .  .  For  ...  as 
many  as  have  sinned  under  law  shall  be  judged  by  law.' 
Against  them  will  come  the  testimony  of  the  covenants  and 
promises  given  to  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob;  that  of  all  the 
signs  and  wonders  wrought  for  their  deliverance  from  the 
bondage  in  Egypt ;  that  of  the  law  from  Mount  Sinai,  of 
the  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire,  of  the  water  from  the  rock  of 
Horeb,  and  of  the  brazen  serpent  in  the  wilderness;  that 
of  Moses  and  Elijah,  Isaiah,  Daniel,  and  all  the  prophets, 
that  of  John  the  Baptist,  and  of  Him  who  was  the  greatest 
of  them  all,  Jesus  Christ  the  righteous,  whom  they  slew  and 
hanged  upon  a  tree.  When  all  this  testimony  shall  be  read 
from  'the  opened  books'  before  the  great  white  throne,  the 
guilt  of  their  unbelief  must  be  made  to  appear  as  enormous, 
and  crushing  must  be  their  final  doom.  (3)  This  principle 
must  also  be  applied  to  those  who  have  enjoyed  the  superior 
light  of  the  new  dispensation,  even  to  the  saints  themselves. 
But  here  a  question  arises,  How  can  they  be  judged  accord- 
ing to  their  light  and  their  works,  when  'there  is  no  con- 
demnation to  them  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus'  (Rom.  viii.  i), 
all  whose  sins  are  forgiven,  and  shall  be  remembered  against 
them  no  more  forever?  (Heb.  viii.  12).  This  question  re- 
quires us  to  take  into  account  the  most  fundamental  truth 


RESURRECTION  AND  JUDGMENT  OF  THE  DEAD     383 

of  the  gospel,  namely,  that  God  has  provided  a  '  new  and 
living  way '  (x.  20)  for  the  exercise  of  His  mercy  upon  be- 
lieving souls  without  detriment  to  His  justice,  holiness,  or 
other  attributes.  This  new  way  consists  in  the  mediation 
and  sacrifice  of  Christ,  whereby  a  principle  of  commutation 
is  introduced  into  the  administration  of  divine  justice,  as 
declared  in  the  words:  "Being  justified  freely  by  His  grace 
through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus;  whom  God 
hath  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation  by  His  blood  through  faith 
to  declare  His  justice  for  the  remission  of  sins  .  .  .  for  the 
declaration  of  His  justice  .  .  .  that  He  might  be  just,  and 
the  justifier  of  him  that  believeth  in  Jesus"  (Rom.  lii.  24-26). 
By  this  substitution  all  the  demands  of  God's  justice  against 
believers  are  commutatively  met  and  discharged.  Hence  it 
is  not  by  the  suspension,  setting  aside,  or  sacrifice  of  justice 
that  mercy  is  exercised  upon  believers,  for  it  has  no  penal 
claims  upon  them  because  Christ  has  met  these  claims,  and 
they  have  availed  themselves  of  this  commutation  by  faith 
in  Him:  on  the  contrary,  it  is  in  perfect  consistency  with 
justice,  as  revealed  in  the  mediation  of  Christ,  that  believers 
shall  stand  openly  acquitted  and  justified  before  the  throne, 
and  the  Judge  Himself  will  say  to  them:  "Come,  ye  blessed 
of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world  "  (Mat.  xxv.  34).  Now  this  com- 
mutative principle  of  the  divine  justice  centres  in,  and  ema- 
nates from,  Christ;  and  by  means  of  it  He  becomes  to 
believers  '  the  Sun  of  righteousness  with  healing  in  His  wings ' 
(Mai.  iv.  2).  Hence  the  one  all-comprehending  demand  of 
God's  justice  upon  men  under  the  superior  light  of  the  new 
dispensation  is,  that  they  believe  in  Christ,  as  in  His  own 
words:  "This  is  the  work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  Him 
whom  He  hath  sent"  (John  vi.  29):  and  they  who  do  this 
meet  the  responsibility  which  this  light  of  Christ  lays  upon 
them;  they  do  that  'work  of  God'  which  determines  the 
view  which  He  will  take  of  all  their  other  works,  and  the 
judgment  which  He  will  pronounce  upon  them  in  the  last 
day.  On  the  other  hand,  they  who  do  not  accept  this  com- 
mutative  principle    in    the    divine    justice   by    believing   in 


384  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

Christ  do  not  act  according  to  the  superior  light  of  the  new. 
dispensation,  nor  meet  the  increased  responsibility  which  it 
lays  upon  them.  Hence  they  do  not  avail  themselves  of  its 
benefits,  but  continue  to  stand  under  the  penal  claims  of 
God's  justice  for  all  their  sins;  they  must  be  judged  accord- 
ing to  their  personal  deserts  in  all  their  works;  because  they 
reject  the  only  way  in  which,  as  God  views  the  m.atter, 
mercy  can  be  shown,  judgment  without  mercy  must  be  their 
portion;  and  their  punishment  must  needs  be  the  most  rigor- 
ous of  all,  as  in  the  following  declarations:  "This  is  the 
judgment,  that  light  is  come  into  the  world,  and  men  loved 
the  darkness  rather  than  the  light,  for  their  works  were  evil 
(John  iii.  19).  If  I  had  not  come  and  spoken  unto  them, 
they  had  not  had  sin;  but  now  they  have  no  excuse  for  their 
sin  (xv.  22).  If  we  sin  wilfully  after  we  have  received  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth,  there  remaineth  no  more  sacrifice 
for  sins,  but  a  certain  fearful  looking  for  of  judgment  and 
fierceness  of  the  fire  which  shall  devour  the  adversaries.  A 
man  that  hath  despised  Moses'  law  dieth  without  mercy  un- 
der two  or  three  witnesses:  of  how  much  sorer  punishment, 
think  ye,  shall  he  be  judged  worthy  who  hath  trodden  under 
foot  the  Son  of  God,  and  hath  counted  the  blood  of  the 
covenant  wherewith  he  was  sanctified  an  unholy  thing,  and 
hath  done  despite  unto  the  Spirit  of  grace  ?  For  we  know 
Him  who  hath  said,  Vengeance  belongeth  unto  me;  I  will 
recompense:  and,  again.  The  Lord  will  judge  His  people. 
It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God  " 
(Heb.  X.  26-31). 

13  And  the  sea  gave  up  the  dead  who  were  in  it,  and  Death  and 
Hades  gave  up  the  dead  who  were  in  them;  and  they  were  judged, 
each  one,  according  to  their  works. 

These  words  place  before  us  a  very  vivid  picture  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  of  the  judgment  after  death. 
Three  classes  are  mentioned  evidently  as  inclusive  of  all 
human  souls,  i.  e.  those  in  the  sea,  those  in  Death,  taken 
here,  not  in  its  special  sense  of  pestilence  (132),  but  in  its 
general   import.     But  these   classes  cannot   be  understood 


RESrR.^ECTZO.V  A.VD  JUDGMENT  OF  THE  DEAD     385 

as  exclusive  of  each  other,  for  both  the  dead  in  the  sea  and 
those  in  Hades  are  certainly  also  in  Death.  The  first  class 
ma}^  contain  an  allusion  in  refutation  of  the  popular  heathen 
error,  that  those  who  perished  by  shipwreck,  and  were  thus 
deprived  of  burial  rites,  did  not  descend  into  Hades,  but 
wandered  forever  about  the  world  of  waters.  It  would  seem 
that  these  several  classes  are  mentioned  only  for  the  sake  of 
emphasis  upon  the  truth,  that  all  the  dead,  howsoever  they 
may  have  perished,  wherever  they  may  be,  whatever  may  be 
their  condition,  are  the  subjects  of  this  resurrection,  do  now 
appear  alive  before  the  judgment  throne,  and  are  judged  in- 
dividually, 'each  one,'  according  to  their  works.  They  may 
have  been  submerged  in  the  depths  of  the  sea;  they  may 
have  become  the  prey  of  Death  in  any  other  form;  they 
may  have  vanished  as  shades  into  the  unseen  world;  but  here 
they  all  are  now,  living  persons,  in  all  the  reality  of  life, 
before  the  great  white  throne. 

But  here  we  have  to  grapple  with  some  of  the  most  per- 
plexing problems  in  the  whole  vast  realm  of  theology.  For 
what,  we  must  now  inquire,  is  the  Scriptural  doctrine  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead  ?  What  is  it  that  takes  place  ?  and 
what  is  its  significance  ?  The  following  observations  may 
throw  some  light  on  this  obscure  but  most  interesting  sub- 
ject, (i)  It  is  not  the  gross  material  body  with  which  we 
are  now  clothed,  but  a  spiritual  one,  that  will  be  raised,  {a) 
For  the  resurrection  of  our  material  bodies  involves  a  pal- 
pable absurdity,  inasmuch  as  they  are  resolved  into  their 
original  elements  taken  from  the  earth  and  atmosphere, 
which  re-enter  into  the  composition  of  other  bodies,  and 
thus  constitute  the  materials  of  many  such  bodies  in  succes- 
sion: {F)  St.  Paul  explicitly  informs  us  that  the  resurrection 
body  is  not  the  same  in  all  particulars  with  the  one  that 
perishes;  that  it  is  not  material  but  spiritual:  *' So  also  is 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  ...  It  is  sown  a  natural  body; 
it  is  raised  a  spiritual  body.  There  is  a  natural,  and  there 
is  a  spiritual  body  "  (i  Cor.  xv.  44).  (2)  In  the  same  con- 
nection He  teaches  us  that  there  is  a  vital  relation  between 
these  two  bodies  which  is  analogous  to  that  between  the  old 
17 


3S6  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

seed  planted  in  the  ground  and  the  new  grain  which  springs 
from  it:  "That  which  thou  sowest  is  not  quickened  except 
it  die;  and  that  which  thou  sowest,  thou  sowest  not  the  body 
that  shall  be,  but  bare  grain,  it  may  chance  of  wheat,  or  of 
some  other  kind;  but  God  giveth  it  a  body  as  it  hath  pleased 
Him,  and  to  every  seed  its  own  body  "  (xv.  36-38).  Thus 
we  are  taught  that  the  material  body  is,  in  some  sort,  the 
germ  of  the  spiritual  body,  from  which  it  springs,  or  is  raised 
up,  and  without  which  it  could  never  have  existed,  (3)  It  is 
doubted  by  some,  whether  the  resurrection  takes  place  im- 
mediately at  death,  or  not  until  the  day  of  judgment;  and 
there  seems  to  be  room  for  difference  of  opinion  on  this 
question.  For,  on  the  one  side,  it  seems  strange  that  the 
spiritual  body  should  be,  in  any  sense,  subject  to  death,  and 
no  less  strange  that  the  souls  of  the  saints  should  be  left  for 
so  many  thousands  of  years  in  that  imperfect  state  in  which 
they  are  not  yet  'clothed  upon  with  their  house  not  made 
with  hands  '  (2  Cor.  v.  i),  but,  in  a  certain  sense,  naked:  and 
our  Lord  speaks  of  the  resurrection  as  actually  present  in 
His  time,  as  well  as  yet  in  the  future:  "Verily,  verily,  I  say 
unto  you,  the  hour  cometh,  and  now  is,  when  the  dead  shall 
hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  they  that  hear  shall 
live"  (John  v.  25).  On  the  other  side,  the  souls  of  the  mar- 
tyrs and  saints  are  spoken  of  as  if  they  were  still  with- 
out their  resurrection  bodies  (139) ;  and  St.  Paul  refers  to 
Hymenaeus  and  Philetus  as  to  heretics  'who  concerning  the 
truth  have  erred,  saying  that  the  resurrection  is  passed 
already,  and  overthrow  the  faith  of  some  '  (2  Tim.  ii.  18). 
On  the  whole,  without  attempting  positively  to  decide  this 
question,  but  leaving  it  to  be  determined  by  the  event,  it 
may  be  safest  for  us  to  hold,  with  the  great  body  of  the 
church  in  all  ages,  that  the  resurrection  of  all  men  will  be 
simultaneous  at  the  time  of  the  general  judgment.  (4)  It  is 
curious  to  observe  that,  in  most  cases  where  the  resurrection 
is  mentioned  or  referred  to,  it  signifies  nothing  more  than 
immortality,  or  a  life  after  death.  Thus  where  the  Lord  con- 
futes the  Sadducees  :  "As  touching  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead,  have  ye  not  read  that  which  was  spoken  unto  you  by 


EESUIiRECTIOX  AXD  JL'DGMEXT  OF  THE  DEAD     387 

God,  saying,  I  am  the  God  of  x\braham,  and  the  God  of 
Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob?  God  is  not  the  God  of  the 
dead,  but  of  the  living"  (Matt.  xxii.  31-32).  Self-evidently 
what  He  means  by  the  resurrection  here  is  not  a  future 
event,  but  something  which  can  be  predicated  of  the  patri- 
archs in  their  present  condition,  namely,  that  they  are  not 
dead,  but  are  living  persons.  In  like  manner,  St.  Paul:  "If 
the  dead  are  not  raised  .  .  .  they  also  who  have  fallen  asleep 
in  Christ  have  perished.  If  in  this  life  only  we  have  hope  in 
Christ,  we  are  of  all  men  most  miserable  "  (i  Cor.  xv.  16-19). 
This  reasoning,  both  of  the  Lord  and  His  apostle,  absolutely 
requires  that  it  should  mean  no  more  by  the  resurrection 
than  that  there  is  a  future  life;  for  otherwise  the  objectors 
might  have  refuted  it  by  replying.  We  do  not  deny  that  the 
souls  of  the  dead  are  still  alive  (though  the  Sadducees  denied 
even  that),  but  only  that  their  bodies  are  raised:  what  non- 
sense, then,  do  you  talk  saying  that,  apart  from  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body,  you  can  have  no  hope  in  Christ,  and  are 
of  all  men  most  miserable,  when  you  have  still  before  you 
the  immortality  of  your  souls,  and  eternal  life  from  Him  ! 
Hence  it  seems  plain  that  the  deepest  significance  of  the  doc- 
trine of  the  resurrection  is  that  it  gives  certainty  to  that  of 
immortality,  or  at  least  to  that  of  a  future  life.  (5)  Moreover, 
a  true  faith  in  the  resurrection  of  the  body  imparts  a  reality 
to  that  life,  or  to  our  conceptions  of  it,  which  were  other- 
wise impossible.  For  it  enables  us  to  conceive  of  it  as  a  life 
in  the  body,  as  a  form  of  that  organic  life  which  is  the  only 
kind  with  which  we  are  acquainted  by  experience;  and  this, 
in  opposition  to  the  heathen  error,  that  the  souls  of  the  dead 
were  nothing  but  *  shades,'  their  life,  if  such  it  could  be 
called,  shadowy  and  unreal,  and  the  enjoyments  of  the  vir- 
tuous altogether  unsatisfactory,  in  comparison  with  those  of 
their  former  life  in  the  body.  Thus  Homer  makes  the  shade 
of  Achilles  in  the  Elysian  Fields  say  to  Ulysses,  who  was 
permitted  to  visit  him:  "I  would  rather  be  a  serf  attached 
to  the  soil,  a  servant  to  another  portionless  man,  to  whom 
there  should  be  small  means  to  support  life,  than  to  be  king 


288  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

over  all  the  perished  dead."  *  In  contrast  with  all  this,  the 
doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  assures  us  that  after 
death  our  souls  will  possess  bodily  organisms  of  an  incor- 
ruptible imperishable  material;  that  we  shall  be  as  visible 
and  palpable  to  each  other  as  we  are  now;  that  we  shall 
hear  with  our  ears,  and  speak  with  our  mouths,  and  grasp 
each  other's  hands  in  social  intercourse,  as  we  do  now;  in  a 
word,  that  our  life  will  be  real  and  substantial. 

14  And  Death  and  Hades  were  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire:  this  is 
the  second  death,  the  lake  of  fire:  15  and  if  any  one  -was  not  found 
written  in  the  book  of  life,  he  was  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire. 

Here,  as  elsewhere,  Death  and  Hades  are  personified,  per- 
haps with  reference  to  fallen  angels,  demon  powers,  presid- 
ing over  these  dark  realms  (39),  but  certainly  as  representing 
all  human  beings  who  remain  under  the  power  of  spiritual 
death,  or  moral  evil.  The  idea  expressed  by  their  being 
cast  into  the  lake  of  fire,  is  either  that  of  their  utter  destruc- 
tion, or  that  of  their  being  subjected  to  the  utmost  punitive 
energy  of  the  divine  justice  (376).  Thus  they  who  are  not 
*  found  written  in  the  book  of  life  '  (86),  i.  e.  all  who  are  not 
known  to  the  Lord  as  His  own,  the  incorrigibly  wicked,  reap 
the  final  reward  of  their  wickedness,  in  fulfilment  of  the 
words  of  the  Lord:  '  Then  will  He  say  unto  them  on  the  left 
hand.  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire, 
which  is  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels.  .  .  .  And 
these  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punishment  "  (Mat.  xxv. 
41-46).  Thus,  also,  as  in  the  parables  of  the  sheep  and  the 
goats,  and  of  the  wheat  and  the  tares  (xiii.  30),  they  are  sep- 
arated forever  from  the  saved,  and  put  where  they  can  do 
no  more  harm,  where  the  good  shall  be  no  more  vexed  nor 
contaminated  by  association  with  them;  and  'then  shall  the 
righteous  shine  forth  as  the  sun  in  the  kingdom  of  their 
Father'  (xiii.  43).     The  lake  of  fire  is  also  another  name  for 


*  'BovTioifirjv  k'  ETrdpovpog  tov  Ot/teve/uev  aA/lcj 
dv6fn  nap  aickrjpu  J  firj  filoroq  TroAvg  elr) 
^  naaiv  veKVEoat  Karacpdifisvoiaiv  avaacEiv. 

Od.  xi.  489. 


RESURRECTION  AND  JUDGMENT  OF  THE  DEAD     38^ 

'the  second  death,'  i.  e.  not  the  bare  negation  of  life,  but  its 
opposite,  death  in  trespasses  and  sins  with  all  its  conse- 
quences. On  the  other  hand,  they  whom  this  death  shall  not 
hurt  (60),  for  them  there  shall  be  no  more  death,  but  an  ever- 
lasting experience  of  what  is  signified  by  such  declarations 
as  the  following:  "  Forasmuch,  then,  as  the  children  are  par- 
takers of  flesh  and  blood.  He  also  Himself  likewise  took  part 
of  the  same,  that  through  death  He  might  destroy  him  that 
had  the  power  of  death,  that  is,  the  devil,  and  might  deliver 
all  them  who  through  fear  of  death  were  all  their  lifetime 
subject  to  bondage  (Heb.  ii.  14-15).  The  last  enemy  that  shall 
be  destroyed  is  death.  .  .  .  When  this  corruptible  shall  have 
put  on  incorruption,  and  this  mortal  shall  have  put  on  immor- 
tality, then  shall  be  brought  to  pass  the  saying  that  is  written: 

Death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory: 

O  Death,  where  is  thy  victory  ? 

O  Hades,  where  is  thy  sting  ?"  (i  Cor.  xv.  26,  54-55.) 

This  vision  closes  the  sixth  series  of  the  revelations  of  this 
book,  which  is  to  be  followed  by  the  seventh  and  last.  Such, 
also,  will  be  the  end  of  the  dispensation  in  which  we  are  now 
living,  and  of  the  present  world,  in  preparation  for  'the  new 
heavens  and  the  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness  ' 
(2  Pet.  iii.  13).  The  evil  that  is  in  the  world,  which  origin- 
ated in  the  sin  of  the  first  man,  will  be  abolished  by  this 
final  judgment,  which  has  been  often  foreshadowed  in  these 
visions,  and  in  which  all  wrongs  will  be  righted;  the  right- 
eous being  openly  acquitted  and  justified,  the  blood  of  the 
martyrs  amply  avenged,  and  all  who  have  given  themselves 
to  work  iniquity  punished  according  to  their  deserts.  And 
by  this  judgment  the  final  destiny  of  every  human  soul  will 
be  determined.  Before  this  great  white  throne  we  all  must 
appear,  and  abide  by  the  decision  which  He  from  whose 
face  the  heaven  and  the  earth  shall  flee  away  shall  give  con- 
cerning us.  What,  then,  have  we  to  do  but  to  live  so  that 
we  may  be  accepted  of  Him  in  that  day,  and  not  so  as  to 
bring  upon  ourselves  'shame  and  everlasting  contempt '? 
(Dan.  xii.  2).  What  folly  can  equal  that  of  so  living  as  to 
'treasure  up  unto  ourselves  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath 
and  revelation  of  the  just  judgment  of  God'  ?  (Rom.ii.  5). 


XLVI 

THE    NEW   HEAVEN   AND    NEW   EARTH       RESTORATION   OF 
ALL   THINGS      XXI    1-8 

We  have  here  the  commencement  of  the  seventh  and  last 
series  of  these  revelations,  and  of  a  new  dispensation  of  the 
mystery  of  the  divine  providence.  The  world  of  evil  has 
now  come  to  an  end,  and  the  world  of  good,  wherein  all 
things  are  made  new,  takes  its  place.  The  natural  is  now 
superseded  by  the  spiritual.  Here  all  the  promises  are  ful- 
filled, all  the  hopes  they  have  awakened  realized.  This  open- 
ing vision  of  the  series  evidently  comprehends  in  a  summary 
manner  all  that  is  to  follow  concerning  the  New  Jerusalem, 
ample  particulars  of  which  will  be  given  in  their  place.  Yet 
it  will  be  extremely  difficult  for  us,  surrounded  and  influ- 
enced, as  we  are,  by  the  old  world,  to  comprehend  and 
realize  this  new  order  of  things,  which  is  so  remote  in  the 
future,  and  so  different  from  all  that  we  have  ever  experi- 
enced. This,  however,  must  not  deter  us,  having  now,  by 
our  study  of  the  preceding  revelations,  passed  through  our 
prescribed  preparation  for  it,  from  an  earnest  effort  to  grasp 
as  much  of  it  as  we  can,  remembering  how  'blessed  is  he 
that  readeth,  and  they  that  hear,  the  words  of  the  prophecy' 
of  this  book  (lo). 

I  And  I  saw  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth,  for  the  first  heaven 
and  the  first  earth  are  passed  away,  and  the  sea  is  no  more. 

We  have  seen  that  the  earth  and  the  heaven  fled  away 
from  the  face  of  Him  who  sat  upon  the  great  white  throne, 
and  for  them  no  place  was  found.  This  may  signify  that 
they  were  literally  consumed  by  fire;  but  even  if  so,  the  sym- 
bolical meaning  of  their  passing  away  must  not  be  left  out 
(390) 


RESTORATIOy  OF  ALL   THLVGS 


391 


of  view,  which,  as  we  have  seen  (380),  is,  that  the  whole 
natural  life  of  man,  with  all  its  mediate  sources  of  light, 
has  forever  disappeared ;  and  hence,  as  we  shall  see  in  the 
sequel,  the  saved  have  no  more  need  of  the  sun  in  this  sym- 
bolical sense  (147).  Perhaps  also  the  sea  may  be  taken  here 
both  in  its  literal  and  symbolical  meanings;  in  the  former  of 
which,  its  being  no  more  refers  to  its  evaporation  by  the  fire 
that  consumes  the  earth;  in  the  latter,  to  the  end  of  national 
life  as  subject  to  strifes  and  sinful  perturbations,  of  which 
the  sea  is  the  constant  symbol  (244);  but  beyond  a  question 
this  last  is  the  principal  idea  intended.  In  like  manner,  the 
new  heaven  and  new  earth  which  now  come  into  view  repre- 
sent the  ph3'^sical  world  as  completely  renovated,  and  the 
renovation  of  the  life  and  light  of  its  inhabitants,  who  are 
now  raised  from  the  dead,  clothed  with  their  spiritual  and 
immortal  bodies,  no  longer  subject  to  sin,  or  death,  nor  any 
of  its  consequences:  for  their  new  life  necessarily  requires  that 
its  habitat  and  environment  should  be  adapted  to  it.  Such 
is  the  complete  palingenesia  which  will  take  place  in  fulfilment 
of  a  multitude  of  prophecies,  of  which  the  following  are  ex- 
amples: "  Behold,  I  create  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth,  and 
the  former  things  shall  not  be  remembered,  nor  come  into 
mind  (Is.  Ixv,  17).  According  to  His  promise,  we  look  for  new 
heavens  and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness 
(2  Pet.  iii.  L^).  The  times  of  restoration  of  all  things, 
whereof  God  hath  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  His  holy  prophets 
which  have  been  since  the  world  began  (Acts  iii.  21). 
The  earnest  expectation  of  the  creature  waiteth  for  the 
manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God.  .  .  .  The  creature  itself 
also  shall  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  corruption  into 
the  liberty  of  the  glory  of  the  children  of  God  "  (Rom.  viii. 
19-21}. 

2  And  I  saw  the  Holy  City,  New  Jerusalem,  coming  down  out  of 
heaven  from  God,  prepared  as  a  bride  adorned  for  her  husband. 

The  New  Jerusalem  is  the  sj^mbol  of  the  church  of  the 
resurrection  in  her  triumphant  glories.  Hitherto  she  has 
been  '  the  Jerusalem  that  is  above  .  .  ,  which  is  our  mother ' 


392 


WISDOM  OF  THE  AFOCAL  YPSE 


(Gal  iv.  26);  but  now  she  descends  out  of  heaven  from  God, 
thus  signifying,  (i)  that  the  final  and  perfect  state  of  human- 
ity is  not  evolved  out  of  the  political,  nor  any  other  form  of 
man's  natural  life,  but  is  altogether  of  heavenly  origin,  the 
work  of  God  making  all  things  new;  (2)  that  the  saints  who 
have  been  received  up  into  heaven,  there  to  await  the 
restoration  of  all  things,  do  now  return  to  the  earth,  which 
has  been  renovated  and  prepared  for  their  everlasting  abode; 
or  that  the  heavenly  mansions  themselves,  with  all  their  in- 
habitants, now  descend  and  are  established  upon  the  earth;  or 
that  whatever  has  hitherto  separated  earth  from  heaven  is  re- 
moved ;  that  the  two  are  now  united  and  become  one, which  last 
idea  is  still  further  represented  and  emphasized  in  the  mar- 
riage of  the  Lamb  with  His  human  Bride.  For  in  order  to 
the  fulness  and  perfection  of  His  triumph,  it  is  necessary 
that  even  the  place  where  the  evil  has  been  wrought  should 
become  the  place  where  the  good  shall  forever  reign.  And 
now  the  church  of  the  resurrection,  emancipated  from  bond- 
age to  the  world,  even  from  the  influences  of  the  flesh, 
clothed  with  her  spiritual  body,  and  v.'ith  the  righteousnesses 
which  are  the  gift  of  her  Lord,  is  prepared  for  the  consum- 
mation of  her  marriage  with  her  celestial  Bridegroom  (350),  as 
a  bride  adorned  for  her  husband.  For  she  has  arrayed  her- 
self in  'the  fine  linen  bright  and  pure,'  and  beautified  her- 
self, not  with  '  outward  adorning  of  plaiting  of  the  hair,  of 
jewels  and  gold,  nor  of  outward  apparel,  but  with  that  of  the 
hidden  man  of  the  heart,  incorruptible,  a  meek  and  quiet 
spirit,  which  in  the  sight  of  God  is  of  great  price'  (i  Pet.  iii. 
3-4).  The  following  are  some  of  the  glowing  symbols  in 
which  this  great  spiritual  transaction  is  represented  by  the 
prophets: 

The  King's  daughter  within  is  all  glorious  ; 

Her  clothing  is  inwrought  with  gold. 

She  shall  be  led  unto  the  King  in  broidered  work  : 

The  virgins,  her  companions  that  follow  her, 

Shall  be  brought  unto  thee  : 

With  gladness  and  rejoicing  shall  they  be  led  ; 

They  shall  enter  into  the  King's  palace  (Ps.  xlv.  13-15). 

He  hath  clothed  me  with  the  garments  of  salvation, 


RESrOFATION  OF  ALL   THINGS  393 

He  hath  covered  me  with  the  robe  of  righteousness  ; 

As  a  bridegroom  decketh  himself  with  a  garland, 

And  as  a  bride  adorneth  herself  with  her  jewels  (Is.  Ixi.  10). 

Thou  shalt  no  more  be  termed  Forsaken  ; 

Neither  shall  thy  land  any  more  be  termed  Desolate  : 

But  thou  shalt  be  called  My-delight-is-in-her, 

And  thy  land  Married  : 

For  the  Lord  delighteth  in  thee, 

And  thy  land  shall  be  married  .  .  . 

For  as  the  bridegroom  rejoiceth  over  the  bride, 

So  will  thy  God  rejoice  over  thee  (Is.  Ixii.  4-5). 


3  And  I  heard  a  great  voice  out  of  the  throne  saying,  Behold  the 
tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men,  and  He  will  dwell  with  them  ;  and 
they  shall  be  His  peoples,  and  He  will  be  God  with  them,  their  God  ;  4 
and  He  will  wipe  away  every  tear  from  their  eyes  ;  and  there  shall  be 
no  more  death,  neither  shall  there  be  mourning  nor  crying  nor  pain  any 
more  ;  for  the  first  things  are  passed  away. 

This  great  voice  out  of  the  throne  represents  the  authority 
and  power  of  God  (348).  In  what  follows  there  are  evident 
allusions  to  three  things:  (i)  To  the  tabernacle  in  the  wil- 
derness, wherein  the  abiding  presence  of  God  with  His 
people  was  represented  by  the  shekinah  above  the  mercy- 
seat  in  the  Holy  of  Holies;  (2)  To  the  name  of  the  Holy  City 
at  the  close  of  the  prophecies  of  Ezekiel,  Jehovah-Shammah, 
the  Lord-is-there  (Ez.  xlviii.  25);  (3)  To  the  name  of  Christ, 
Tmmanuel,  God-with-us:  as  also  to  many  such  declarations 
as  the  following:  "  I  will  dwell  among  the  sons  of  Israel, 
and  will  be  their  God  (Ex.  xxix.  45).  I  will  set  my  taber- 
nacle among  you.  ...  I  will  walk  among  you,  and  will  be 
your  God,  and  ye  shall  be  my  people"  (Lev.  xxvi.  11-12): 
for  it  is  here  at  last  that  these  prophecies  attain  to  their 
crowning  fulfilment.  The  word  'peoples'  is  in  the  plural 
apparently  to  denote  the  vast  extension  which  these  promises 
to  Israel  have  now  received,  in  that  the  gentiles  who  were 
formerly  alienated  are  reconciled,  and  have  come  to  inherit 
them.  Now,  moreover,  the  happiness  of  mankind  is  abso- 
lutely perfect;  for  death,  with  all  that  it  implies  of  sin  and 
misery,  is  done  away,  he  that  had  the  power  of  it  having 
been  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire;  and  God  Himself,  with  His 
17* 


2Q4  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YFSE 

own  tender  hand,  wipes  away  every   tear  from   the  eyes  of 
His  children,  as  a  mother  comforts  her  babe  (i6o). 

5  And  He  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne  said,  Behold,  I  make  all 
things  new.  And  He  saith,  Write,  for  these  words  are  faithful  and 
true.  6  And  He  said  unto  me,  They  are  fulfilled.  I  am  the  Alpha  and 
the  Omega,  the  beginning  and  the  end. 

The  voice  out  of  the  throne  is  immediately  followed  by 
that  of  Him  who  sits  upon  the  throne  (109),  saying,  'Behold, 
I  make  all  things  new,'  evidently  referring  to  the  new  heaven 
and  new  earth  and  to  the  New  Jerusalem.  It  has  been 
thought  by  some  that  this  command,  '  Write,'  is  given  by  the 
angel  who  has  been  the  medium  in  previous  communications, 
and  who  will  appear  hereafter;  but  it  seems  better  to  under- 
stand that  it  is  God  Himself  who  continues  to  speak,  and 
who  here  enjoins  upon  the  Seer  to  record  for  all  time  the 
words  he  has  just  heard  and  those  that  are  to  follow,  because 
they  are  faithful  and  true,  and  as  in  the  vision  have  now 
come  to  their  fulfilment.  The  formula, '  I  am  the  Alpha  and 
the  Omega' (22)  is  here  introduced  again,  signifying  that 
God  is  the  eternal  One,  who  was  before  all  things,  and  is  the 
end  to  which  they  all  return;  in  whom  all  the  aspirations 
and  hopes  of  humanity  find  their  accomplishment  and  fru- 
ition, all  man's  spiritual  longings  complete  satisfaction. 

6  I  ■will  give  unto  him  that  is  athirst  of  the  fountain  of  the  water 
of  life  freely.  7  He  that  overcometh  shall  inherit  these  things,  and  I 
■will  be  his  God,  and  he  shall  be  my  son. 

Hunger  and  thirst  are  the  natural  and  most  common  Scrip- 
tural symbols  of  se  isibility  to  spiritual  need,  the  feeling  of 
spiritual  want,  as  in  our  Lord's  words:  "Blessed  are  they 
that  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness,  for  they  shall  be 
filled  "  (Mat.  v.  6).  The  fountain  or  original  source  of  the 
water  of  life  is  in  the  throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb  (Rev. 
xxii.  i),  i.  e.  in  the  will  and  government  of  God,  and  in  the 
mediatorial  government  and  sacrifice  of  Christ;  and  it  is  by 
this  only  that  the  craving  of  man's  spiritual  nature  can  be 
satisfied.     Similar  imagery  abounds  in  the  Scriptures: 


RE  ST  OR  A  TION  OF  ALL   THINGS 


395 


"  Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  waters  ; 
And  he  that  hath  no  money,  come  ye,  buy  and  eat ; 
Yea,  come,  buy  wine  and  milk  without  money  and  without  price  (Is.  Iv.  i). 

.  .  .  Whosoever  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I  will  give  him 
shall  never  thirst;  but  the  water  that  I  will  give  him  shall  be 
in  him  a  well  of  water  springing  up  into  eternal  life  "  (John 
iv.  14).  This  living  water  God  gives  'freely'  unto  every 
thirsting  soul,  because  we  have  nothing  to  pay  for  it,  and 
because  it  is  above  all  price.  But  it  is  onl}^  they  who  over- 
come in  their  conflicts  with  the  evil  that  is  in  the  world  ^(i), 
as  this  is  pictured  in  the  preceding  visions,  especially  in 
the  Epistles  to  the  churches,  to  which  there  is  here  a  pointed 
and  significant  reference,  who  shall  'inherit,'  or  come  into 
possession  of,  '  these  things,'  i.  e.  who  shall  attain  to  the  ful- 
filment of  all  the  promises,  including  this  one,  that  God  will 
be  their  God,  and  they  shall  be  His  sons. 

8  But  the  cowardly  and  unbelieving  and  abominable  and  murderers 
and  fornicators  and  sorcerers  and  idolaters  and  all  the  liars,  their  part 
is  in  the  lake  that  burneth  with  fire  and  brimstone,  which  is  the  sec- 
ond death. 

This  catalogue  is  substantially  the  same  with  that  of  those 
who  are  excluded  from  the  New  Jerusalem  (Rev.  xxii.  15). 
It  begins  with  '  the  cowardly,'  in  contrast  with  the  preceding 
conquerors,  the  tried  and  victorious  soldiers  of  the  cross, 
who  have  bravely  '  fought  the  good  fight  of  faith  and  thus 
laid  hold  on  eternal  life'  (i  Tim.  vi.  12);  because  they  who 
have  no  heart  for  this  warfare  against  the  evil  are  in  league 
with  it,  and  as  certain  to  perish  as  the  others  with  whom 
they  are  here  enumerated  :  "  He  that  is  not  with  me  is 
against  me  (Mat.  xii.  30): 

Curse  ye  Meroz,  said  the  angel  of  the  Lord, 

Curse  ye  bitterly  the  inhabitants  thereof  ; 

Because  they  came  not  up  to  the  help  of  the  Lord, 

To  the  help  of  the  Lord,  among  the  mighty  '  (Judges  v.  23). 

Moreover,  a  slavish  fear,  at  least  despair  of  the  mercy  of 
God,  is  no  less  fatal  to  the  soul  than  crime  itself.  Tlie  sec- 
ond is  the  '  unbelieving,'  because  salvation  is  by  faith  alone; 


39^ 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 


"■  This  is  tiie  work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  Him  whom  He 
hath  sent  (John  vi.  29).  He  that  believeth  not  God  hath 
made  Him  a  liar  (i  John  v.  10).  Without  faith  it  is  impos- 
sible to  please  Him.  .  .  .  This  is  the  victory  that  hath  over- 
come the  world,  even  our  faith"  (v.  4).  The  *  abominable'  are 
those  who  are  guilty  of  sins  against  nature  (Rom.  i.  24-27). 
*  Murderers  and  fornicators '  are  everywhere  represented  as 
under  the  wrath  of  God.  *  Sorcerers  '  are  those  who  identify 
themselves  with  the  spiritual  powers  of  evil  for  the  gratifi- 
cation of  selfish  and  malignant  passions  (194).  'Idolaters' 
include  all  who  worship  idols  or  false  gods,  along  with  the 
covetous,  for  '  covetousness  is  idolatry '  (Col.  iii.  5).  The 
list  closes  with  'all  the  liars'  in  reference,  (i)  to  those  who 
reject  the  Lord,  for  'who  is  a  liar  but  he  who  denieth  that 
Jesus  is  the  Christ  ?' (i  John  ii.  22):  (2)  to  those  who  for  their 
incorrigible  sins  are  judicially  blinded  to  believe  soul-de- 
stroying lies,  and  who  thus  have  fallen  into  the  power  of  the 
false  prophet,  to  whom  '  God  sends  strong  delusion,  that 
they  should  believe  a  lie,  that  they  all  may  be  judged  as  not 
believing  the  truth '  (2  Thes.  ii.  7-12):  (3)  to  all  who  practice 
deception  for  selfish  or  malignant  purposes.  These  all  'have 
their  part  in  the  lake  that  burneth  with  fire  and  brimstone, 
which  is  the  second  death '  (389). 

Thus  closes  this  summary  view  of  what  will  follow  the 
judgment  of  the  great  day,  the  particulars  of  which  will  be 
given  hereafter  in  the  symbols  of  the  New  Jerusalem.  There 
are  those,  however,  who  interpret  these  symbols  as  represent- 
ing a  perfected  state  of  humanity  in  the  flesh,  but  I  cannot 
agree  with  them.  To  me  it  seems  plain  that  the  Golden 
City  which  comes  down  out  of  heaven,  in  which  all  things 
are  made  new,  is  the  symbol  of  the  church  of  the  resurrec- 
tion; and  I  cannot  find  any  good  reason  for  believing  that 
any  will  be  admitted  into  it  but  those  who  have  passed 
through  death,  and  are  clothed  with  their  resurrection 
bodies. 


XLVII 

THE    NEW    JERUSALEM        THE     CHURCH    OF    THE    RESUR- 
RECTION     XXI  9-27     XXII  1-5 

The  picture  here  given  us  of  the  Golden  City  is  one  of 
surpassing  sublimity  and  beauty.  If  it  had  been  merely  the 
work  of  a  human  artist,  it  could  never  be  sufficiently  ad- 
mired or  praised.  The  vividness  of  the  word-painting  is 
such  that  we  seem  to  see  everything  with  our  bodily  eyes; 
and  everything  is  significant  of  some  glorious  and  precious 
truth  pertaining  to  the  life  of  the  saved  after  they  have 
been  raised  from  the  dead;  whilst  that  life  is  represented  as 
no  less  real  than  this  which  we  now  live  in  the  flesh.  Indeed, 
it  would  seem  that  the  principal  object  and  most  important 
use  of  the  whole  symbol  are,  to  give  reality  to  our  concep- 
tions of  the  beatitudes  and  glories  of  our  future  life,  in  which 
all  our  spiritual  longings  and  hopes  are  to  attain  their  ever- 
lasting and  all-satisfying  fruition. 

9  And  there  came  one  of  the  seven  angels  that  had  the  seven  chal- 
ices full  of  the  seven  last  plagues,  and  spake  with  me,  saying,  Come 
hither,  I  will  show  thee  the  Bride,  the  wife  of  the  Lamb. 

It  was  one  of  these  angels  who  showed  to  the  Seer  Baby- 
lon, the  harlot  city,  the  great  antichristian  world-power, 
overthrown  and  destroyed  by  the  divine  judgments  (325); 
and  here,  in  like  manner,  it  is  one  of  them  who  shows  him 
the  faithful  city.  New  Jerusalem,  the  Bride  who  has  now  be- 
come the  wife  of  the  Lamb  (350),  the  church  of  the  saved  in 
the  perfection  of  her  purity,  beauty,  and  glory.  A  significant 
contrast  between  these  two  grand  series  of  images,  and  be- 
tween the  truths  which  they  signify,  runs  through  all  the 
particulars  of   both.     The  ministry  of   these  angels  of  the 

(397) 


398  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

last  plagues  in  them  both  symbolizes  what  we  have  seen  in 
almost  all  these  visions  (169),  namely,  that  the  judgments  ^f 
God  are  closely  connected  with,  and  are,  indeed,  the  neces- 
sary means  unto,  the  blessed  and  glorious  result  of  the 
whole  providential  scheme.  It  is  to  be  observed  also  that, 
as  in  the  Babylon  series  there  is  a  blending  of  the  two  images 
of  a  city  and  a  harlot  (336),  so  in  this  New  Jerusalem  series 
there  is  a  similar  blending  of  two,  those  of  a  city  and  of  a 
chaste  bride. 

10  And  he  carried  me  away  in  the  Spirit  unto  a  mountain  great 
and  high,  and  showed  me  the  Holy  City  Jerusalem,  coming  down  out 
of  heaven  from  God,  having  the  glory  of  God. 

The  Seer  had  been  carried  away  in  the  Spirit  by  one  of 
these  angels  '  into  a  wilderness'  (326),  where  he  saw  the  har- 
lot, in  all  her  meretricious  adornment,  riding  upon  the  scar- 
let beast,  representing  the  church  corrupted  by  the  world, 
and  holding  the  secular  powers  in  subjection;  and  now  he  is 
carried  away  in  the  same  state  of  spiritual  ecstasy  (26)  '  unto 
a  mountain  great  and  high,'  where  he  is  shown  the  New 
Jerusalem,  coming  down  out  of  heaven  from  God,  represent- 
ing the  church  of  the  saved,  purified  from  all  worldly  con- 
taminations, and  blazing  with  all  her  spiritual  glories.  In 
like  manner,  when  the  Lord  would  show  to  the  prophet 
Ezekiel  in  apocalyptic  vision  the  same  glorified  city,  He  set 
him  'upon  a  very  high  mountain'  (Ez.  xl.  2);  and  when  He 
would  unveil  to  His  three  chosen  disciples  His  transfigura- 
tion glories,  'He  led  them  up  into  a  high  mountain  apart' 
(Mat.  xvii.  i).  So,  also,  the  glory  of  the  Lord  appeared  on 
the  top  of  mount  Sinai  at  the  giving  of  the  law  (Ex.  xxiv. 
16),  and  unto  Abraham  on  mount  Moriah  at  the  sacrifice 
of  Isaac  ;  in  connection  with  which  Last  an  old  Hebrew 
proverb  is  cited:  "In  the  mount  of  the  Lord  He  will  ap- 
pear" (Gen.  xxii.  14).  Perhaps  the  connection  between  these 
epiphanies  and  the  tops  of  mountains  may  be  understood 
from  the  fact,  that  the  physical  effects  experienced  at  such 
great  elevations  above  the  earth,  where  the  air  is  pure,  and 
the  view  immensely  extended,  are  wonderfully  symbolical 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  RESURRECTION 


399 


and  expressive  of  spiritual  exaltation  and  the  raptures  of 
beatific  vision  (27).  There  are  Beulah  heights  and  transfig- 
uration mountains  in  the  experience  of  God's  people,  from 
which  they  obtain  heart-ravishing  views  of  the  Lord's  glory 
and  of  the  celestial  city  (392).  Here  it  is  repeated  that  the 
city  is  seen  'coming  down  out  of  heaven  from  God  '  for  the 
sake  of  emphasis  upon  the  significance  of  that  grand  symbol: 
and  the  words,  'having  the  glory  of  God,'  are  added  to  de- 
note two  things:  (i)  that  the  church  of  the  resurrection  pos- 
sesses the  fulness  of  the  divine  presence  and  glory,  which 
was  foreshadowed  by  the  shekinah  in  the  Holy  of  Holies; 
(2)  that  she  herself  is  the  perfect  manifestation  of  this  glory: 
both  of  which  ideas  will  be  copiously  developed  in  the 
sequel. 

II  The  light  thereof  was  like  unto  a  stone  most  precious,  as  it 
were  a  jasper  stone,  clear  as  crystal :  12  having  a  wall  great  and 
high;  having  twelve  gates,  and  at  the  gates  twelve  angels;  and 
names  written  thereon,  which  are  [the  names]  of  the  twelve  tribes  of 
the  sons  of  Israel  :  13  on  the  east  three  gates,  and  on  the  north  three 
gates,  and  on  the  south  three  gates,  and  on  the  west  three  gates.  14 
And  the  wall  of  the  city  had  twelve  foundation  stones,  and  upon  them 
the  twelve  names  of  the  twelve  apostles  of  the  Lamb. 

The  light  of  the  city,  which  is  the  glory  of  God,  is  as  clear 
as  crystal,  lilce  that  of  the  jasper  stone,  which  is  here  repre- 
sented as  the  most  precious  of  all  jewels,  and  consequently 
is  understood  to  be  the  diamond,  which  otherwise  is  not 
mentioned  at  all  in  these  visions,  an  omission  which  would 
be  inexplicable.  We  have  seen  also  that  '  He  who  sat  upon 
the  throne  was  to  the  sight  like  a  jasper  stone'  (109),  which 
identifies  the  light  of  the  city  with  the  glory  of  God.  The 
symbolical  meaning  of  the  'wall  great  and  high'  is  given  by 
the  prophet  as  follows: 

Salvation  will  He  appoint  for  walls  and  bulwarks  ,  .  . 

Thou  shalt  call  thy  walls  salvation  and  thy  gates  praise  (Is.  xxvi.  i;  Ix.  18). 

Thus  we  see  that  this  wall  of  the  city  is  the  symbol  of  sal- 
vation, as  the  walls  of  cities  in  general  are  for  the  safety 
of  their  inhabitants;  and  this  is  the  reason  why  it  is  so  'great 


400 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


and  high,'  namely,  that  it  may  fitly  represent  the  greatness 
and  height  of  the  final  salvation.  In  the  wall  there  are 
twelve  gates,  with  reference  to  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel, 
whose  names  are  inscribed  upon  them.  In  the  correspond- 
ing vision  of  Ezekiel,  the  gates  of  the  several  tribes  are 
specified,  i.  e.  Reuben,  Judah,  and  Levi,  on  the  north;  Joseph, 
Benjamin,  and  Dan,  on  the  east;  Simeon,  Issachar,  and  Zeb- 
ulon,  on  the  south;  Gad,  Asher,  and  Naphtali,  on  the  west 
(Ez,  xlviii.  31-34).  But  we  have  seen  in  the  vision  of  the 
sealing  of  the  servants  of  God  out  of  the  tribes,  that  Dan 
is  omitted  altogether  (156) ;  and  this  significant  variation 
seems  plainly  to  indicate  that  these  names  are  not  to  be 
taken  literally  in  the  sense  of  Israel  according  to  the  flesh, 
but  as  symbols  in  accordance  with  the  symbolical  character 
of  the  whole  book.  These  gates  include  three  grand  ideas: 
(i)  They  represent  the  means  or  way  through  which  the 
nations  have  been  received  into  the  church,  or  state  of  sal- 
vation, as  in  the  prophecy: 

Thy  gates  also  shall  be  open  continually  ; 

They  shall  not  be  shut  day  nor  night  : 

That  they  may  bring  unto  thee  the  forces  of  the  nations, 

And  their  kings  led  [with  themj. 

For  the  nation  and  kingdom  that  will  not  serve  thee  shall  perish ; 

Yea,  those  nations  shall  be  utterly  wasted  (Is.  Ix.  11-12). 

(2)  The  names  of  the  tribes  on  the  gates  signify  that  it  is 
through  the  instrumentality  of  the  church  that  the  nations 
have  been  received  into  the  state  of  salvation,  as  in  all  times 
it  is  through  the  agency  of  God's  people  that  the  gospel 
and  the  Christian  religion  are  communicated  to  mankind: 

(3)  The  gates  are  a  part  of  the  wall,  in  connection  with 
which  one  element  of  their  symbolical  meaning  is  interpreted 
as  follows: 

Thou  shalt  call  thy  walls  salvation,  and  thy  gates  praise  (Is.  Ix.  18). 

That  I  may  show  forth  thy  praise. 

In  the  gates  of  the  daughter  of  Zion, 

I  will  rejoice  in  thy  salvation  (Ps.  ix.  14). 

Enter  into  His  gates  with  thanksgiving. 

And  into  His  courts  with  praise  (c.  4). 

Hence  these  gates,  being  twelve  in  number,  and  a  part  of  the 
walls  which  they  adorn  and  beautify,  symbolize  the  crown- 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  RESURRECTION 


401 


ing  completeness  (109)  of  the  great  salvation,  and  the  beauty 
of  the  praise  which  goes  forth  from  it.  The  twelve  angels, 
one  at  each  gate,  represent  the  fulness  and  completeness  of 
the  angelic  ministry  to  the  saved,  as  in  the  words:  ''Are 
they  not  all  ministering  spirits  sent  forth  to  minister  for 
them  who  shall  be  the  heirs  of  salvation  ?  (Heb.  i.  14), 

The  angel  of  the  Lord  encampeth  round  about  them  that  fear  Him, 
And  delivereth  them"  (Ps.  xxxiv.  7). 

There  may  be,  also,  in  this  station  of  the  angels  at  the  gates 
an  allusion  to  their  ministry  in  offering  to  God  the  prayers 
and  praises  of  the  saints  (123).  In  fine,  the  city  has  twelve 
foundation  stones,  upon  which  are  engraved  the  names  of 
the  twelve  apostles  of  the  Lamb,  as  those  of  the  tribes  are 
upon  the  gates,  to  signify  that  the  church,  in  all  complete- 
ness, is  founded  upon  the  apostles,  i.  e.  upon  their  teaching, 
character,  and  labors  in  the  cause  of  the  Lamb,  by  whose 
sacrifice  for  and  in  them  they  have  come  to  this  honor  and 
glory:  in  all  which  there  are  plain  allusions  to  the  following: 
"  I  say  also  unto  thee,  that  thou  art  Peter  [a  rock],  and  upon 
this  rock  will  I  build  my  church  (Mat.  xvi.  18).  Ye  are  fel- 
low citizens  with  the  saints,  and  of  the  household  of  God, 
being  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets, 
Christ  Jesus  Himself  being  the  chief  corner  stone  "  (Eph.  ii. 
19-20) 

15  And  he  that  spake  with  me  had  for  a  measure  a  golden  reed, 
that  he  might  measure  the  city,  and  the  gates  thereof,  and  the  wall 
thereof.  16  And  the  city  lieth  four-square,  and  the  length  thereof  is 
as  great  as  the  breadth.  And  he  measured  the  city  with  the  reed  unto 
twelve  thousand  furlongs  :  the  length  and  the  breadth  and  the  height 
thereof  are  equal.  17  And  he  measured  the  wall  thereof,  a  hundred 
and  forty  and  four  cubits,  the  measure  of  a  man,  that  is,  of  an  angel. 

The  significance  of  this  measuring  of  the  city  is  the  same 
with  that  of  the  measuring  of  the  temple  in  a  former  vision 
(211),  i.  e.  God's  perfect  knowledge  of  His  people,  both  col- 
lectively and  individually,  as  His  own  peculiar  possession, 
whereby  their  salvation  has  been  infallibly  secured.  Its  be- 
ing measured  with  a  '  golden  reed '  signifies   the  excellence 


402 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 


and  perfection  of  His  knowledge  of  them.  Thus  also  the 
city  is  shown  to  be  a  perfect  square,  with  its  sides  to  the  four 
cardinal  points;  and  as  four  is  the  symbol  of  the  world,  or 
totality,  this  is  to  be  understood  as  signifying  that  it  now 
includes  the  whole  world  (114)  as  renovated  and  purified, 
i.  e.  all  of  the  saved.  Moreover,  as  the  Holy  of  Holies  in  the 
tabernacle,  the  inmost  shrine  or  dwelling  place  of  God,  was 
a  geometrical  square,  this  form  of  the  city  signifies  that  it  is 
all  one  Holy  of  Holies  for  the  indwelling  of  God  and  the 
manifestation  of  His  glory.  But  not  only  is  it  a  square,  it 
is  also  a  cube,  for  its  length  and  breadth  and  height  are 
equal;  and  its  measurement,  probably  that  of  these  three 
dimensions  added  together,  extends  to  12,000  furlongs,  1,500 
miles,  wherein  the  number  12  is  repeated  1,000  times;  which 
may  be  intended  to  symbolize  the  absolute  and  transcendent 
completeness  of  the  church  of  the  resurrection.  The  enor- 
mous height  of  the  city,  500  miles,  is  abundant  evidence,  one 
would  think,  that  it  cannot  be  a  real  city,  but  that  it  is  to  be 
understood  as  a  symbolical  representation.  In  the  thickness 
of  the  wall,  which  is  144  times  the  length  of  a  man's  arm 
from  the  elbow  to  the  tips  of  the  fingers,  or  of  an  angel's, 
referring  to  the  angel  who  measures  it,  we  have  the  square 
of  12,  which  seems  to  denote  the  thorough  completeness, 
and,  as  it  were,  the  solidity  of  the  salvation  which  the  wall 
symbolizes. 

18  And  the  building  of  the  wall  thereof  was  of  jasper;  and  the 
city  was  pure  gold,  like  unto  pure  glass.  19  The  foundation  stones  of 
the  wall  of  the  city  were  adorned  with  every  precious  stone  :  the  first 
foundation  stone  was  jasper,  the  second  sapphire,  the  third  chal- 
cedony, the  fourth  emerald,  20  the  fifth  sardonyx,  the  sixth  sardius, 
the  seventh  chrysolite,  the  eighth  beryl,  the  ninth  topaz,  the  tenth 
chrysoprasus,  the  eleventh  jacinth,  the  tvyelfth  amethyst. 

These  first  words  cannot  mean  that  the  whole  wall  was  of 
jasper,  for  eleven  of  its  twelve  foundation  stones  were  other 
gems.  The  word  si'do/Ojcyii  here  rendered  '  building,'  in 
deference  to  high  authority,  is  of  rare  occurrence  and  ob- 
scure meaning.  Etymologically  it  should  signify  inbuilding, 
or  a  thing  built  into  something  else;  and,  so  rendered  here, 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  RESURRECTION 


403 


it  enables  us  to  understand  the  statement  in  the  sense  that 
'jasper  was  built  into  the  wall,'  alluding  to  the  jasper  of  the 
first  foundation  stone.  It  must  be  acknowledged,  however, 
that  this  is  rather  a  frigid  meaning.  As  the  covering  of  the 
ark  of  the  testimony,  upon  which  the  glor}^  of  God  rested, 
was  of  pure  gold  (Ex.  xxxvii.  6),  so  here  the  whole  city,  in- 
cluding apparently  its  walls,  is  of  gold  so  pure  that  it  is  like 
transparent  glass,  to  denote  the  utmost  purity  and  precious- 
ness  of  all  that  it  symbolizes  {zZ)')  ^"d  that  it  is  permeated  and 
illuminated  throughout  by  the  presence  and  glory  of  God.  It 
has  not  been  found  possible  to  identify  with  certainty  all  these 
gems.  They  are  the  same  in  number,  and  in  most  of  their 
names,  with  those  on  the  breastplate  of  the  Jewish  high- 
priest  (no),  but  they  are  enumerated  in  a  different  order, 
and  apparently  with  principal  reference  to  their  colors. 
Here,  therefore,  I  can  only  give  what  seems  most  probable: 
(i)  The  jasper  or  diamond  (109),  white,  pure  and  essential 
light;  (2)  sapphire,  sky-blue;  (3)  chalcedony  or  agate,  semi- 
opaque,  'varied  with  the  colors  of  autumn  leaves';  (4) 
em.erald,  leaf-green;  (5)  sardonyx,  soft  red,  'like  the  finger 
nails';  (6)  sardius,  flesh-colored;  (7)  chrysolite,  yellow, 
'shining  with  a  golden  splendor';  (8)  beryl,  sea  green;  (9) 
topaz,  pale  green,  'with  shifting  colors ';  (10)  chrysoprasus, 
dark  blue  shaded  with  gold;  (11)  jacinth,  violet;  (12)  ame- 
thyst, purple.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  all  the  colors  of 
these  precious  stones  were  intended  to  symbolize  a  profound 
meaning,  but,  as  they  are  not  quite  certain,  it  cannot  be  cer- 
tainly determined.  With  safety,  however,  it  can  be  said, 
that  the  white  light  of  the  diamond  symbolizes  purity  and 
victory  ;  the  sky-blue  of  the  sapphire,  heavenly  stability ; 
the  soft  red  of  the  sardonyx,  the  tenderness  of  holy  affec- 
tions; the  yellow  of  the  chrysolite,  intense  and  radiant  life; 
and  the  purple  of  the  amethyst,  royal  authority  and  power. 
The  jewels  are  twelve  in  number,  to  signify  the  completeness 
and  preciousness  of  that  which  they  represent;  and,  as  we 
have  seen  that  two  of  them  SA'mbolize  qualities,  traits,  or 
attributes  of  God  (no),  it  is  to  be  inferred  that  this  is  true 
of  all  the  others.     Hence,  as  foundation  stones  of  the  cit}^, 


^04 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 


they  signify  that  it  is  primarily  founded  upon  God  in  all  His 
precious  and  glorious  attributes;  and,  as  inscribed  with  the 
names  of  the  twelve  apostles  of  the  Lamb,  upon  these  same 
traits  of  character  reproduced  in  them,  in  their  teaching 
and  labors,  through  the  efficacy  of  His  most  holy  sacrifice. 

21  And  the  twelve  gates  were  twelve  pearls  ;  each  several  gate 
was  of  one  pearl :  and  the  street  of  the  city  was  pure  gold,  as  it  were 
transparent  glass. 

In  one  of  the  prophets,  these  gates  are  carbuncles  (Is. 
liv.  12),  but  here  the  imagery  is  varied,  which  is  another 
reminder  that  the  city  is  altogether  a  symbolical  representa- 
tion. It  was  an  ancient  Jewish  belief,  however,  that  they 
should  be  literally  pearls  of  enormous  size,  'each  one  thirty 
cubits  in  length,  and  of  equal  width.'  The  pearl  was  an- 
ciently much  more  rare  than  it  is  now,  and  was  esteemed 
one  of  the  most  precious  of  all  jewels,  as  in  the  words  of  our 
Lord:  "  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  as  a  merchant  seeking 
goodly  pearls;  and,  having  found  one  pearl  of  great  price, 
he  went  and  sold  all  that  he  had  and  bought  it  (Mat.  xiii. 
45-46).  Give  not  that  which  is  holy  unto  dogs,  neither 
cast  ye  your  pearls  before  swine  "  (vii.  6).  In  like  manner, 
these  twelve  pearl-gates,  being  set  in  the  wall  of  the  city, 
constituting  an  essential  part  of  it,  and  its  crowning  beauty, 
represent  the  beauty,  completeness,  and  preciousness  of  the 
great  salvation  which  the  wall  symbolizes,  and  of  the  praise 
which  goes  forth  from  it.  It  has  been  mentioned  before 
(402)  that  '  the  city  was  pure  gold  like  unto  pure  glass,'  and 
here  it  is  particularized  that  this  is  true  even  of  its  'street,' 
i.  e.  its  streets,  with  reference  probably  to  their  pavements, 
the  transparency  of  which  is  also  emphasized,  to  denote  that 
the  whole  life  of  the  church  of  the  resurrection,  down  to  its 
lowest  elements,  is  most  pure  and  precious,  and  that  the 
light  of  the  glory  of  God  shines  through  it  all. 

22  And  I  saw  no  temple  therein,  for  the  Lord  God  Almighty  and 
the  Lamb  are  the  temple  thereof. 

The  teniple  at  Jerusalem,  as  also   the  tabernacle  in   the 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  RESURRECTION  405 

wilderness,  was  the  exclusive  dwelling-place  of  God,  where 
His  glory  was  veiled  in  its  Holy  of  Holies  from  the  profane 
gaze  of  sinful  men;  none  but  the  high-priest  being  allowed 
to  look  upon  it,  and  that  only  once  a  year  through  a  cloud 
of  incense;  where  also  God  was  worshipped  with  a  pre- 
scribed ritual,  which  it  was  unlawful  to  use  elsewhere.  This 
may  enable  us  to  understand  why  there  is  no  temple  in  the 
church  of  the  resurrection;  for  in  it  there  is  no  concealment 
of  the  divine  presence  and  glory,  no  prescribed  ritual  of 
sacrifices,  no  ministry  of  an  exclusive  priesthood,  no  particu- 
lar churches,  no  pastorates,  no  missionary  organizations: 
these  all  having  been  superseded  and  done  away  by  the  im- 
mediate presence  and  all-pervading  glory  of  God.  The  Lord 
God  Almighty,  the  All-Ruler  (22),  and  the  Lamb  that  was 
slain  in  sacrifice,  'they  are  the  temple  thereof,'  which  de- 
notes two  things:  (i)  That  as  it  was  the  temple  in  Jerusalem 
which  made  it  the  holy  city,  so  it  is  the  presence  of  God  and 
the  Lamb  in  the  New  Jerusalem  which  hallows  it  through- 
out ;  (2)  that  as  all  blessings  came  to  the  ancient  church 
through  her  temple  service,  so  do  all  blessings  come  to  the 
church  of  the  resurrection  through  the  universal  presence  in 
her  of  God  and  the  Lamb.  And  thus  the  following  proph- 
ecies attain  to  their  crowning  fulfilment:  ''The  hour  cometh 
when  neither  in  this  mountain,  nor  yet  in  Jerusalem,  shall 
ye  worship  the  Father.  .  .  .  When  the  true  worshippers  will 
worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  .  .  . 

Thy  people  also  shall  be  all  righteous  (Is.  Ix.  21). 
And  they  shall  teach  no  more  every  man  his  neighbor, 
And  every  man  his  brother,  saying,  Know  the  Lord; 
For  they  shall  all  know  me. 

From  the  least  of  them  unto  the  greatest  of  them, 
Saith  the  Lord  "  (Jer.  xxxi.  34). 

23  And  the  city  had  no  need  of  the  sun,  neither  of  the  moon,  to 
shine  in  it,  for  the  glory  of  God  did  lighten  it,  and  the  Lamb  is  the 
lamp  thereof. 

Thus  also  the  prophet: 

The  sun  shall  no  more  be  thy  light  by  day, 

Neither  for  brightness  shall  the  moon  give  light  unto  thee  ; 


4o6 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 

But  the  Lord  shall  be  unto  thee  an  everlasting  light, 
And  thy  God  thy  beauty  (Is.  Ix.  19). 


For  the  sun  and  moon,  as  we  have  seen,  are  symbols  of  the 
subordinate  and  mediate  sources  and  supplies  of  intellectual, 
moral,  and  spiritual  light  (147),  of  which  now  there  is  no  need, 
because  '  God,  who  is  light,  and  in  Him  is  no  darkness  at 
air  (John  i.  5),  is  the  light  of  the  city,  and  the  Lamb  is  the 
lamp  from  which  it  shines  in  full  manifestation  and  splen- 
dor. Thus  we  see  that  His  most  holy  sacrifice  is  not  a  bare 
memory  in  the  church  of  the  resurrection,  but  that  it 
illumines  everything  therein  with  the  full  blaze  of  the  glory 
of  God. 

24  And  the  nations  shall  walk  in  the  light  thereof,  and  the  kings 
of  the  earth  do  bring  their  glory  into  it. 

In  some  manuscripts  we  have  *  the  nations  of  them  that 
are  saved,'  but  these  last  words  are  now  rejected  as  a  gloss 
by  some  transcriber  to  express  more  fully  the  true  sense. 
Will  there  then  be  national  organizations  and  governments 
in  the  resurrected  and  perfected  state  of  humanity  ?  There 
may  be,  but  the  words  do  not  necessarily  imply  this;  for 
here,  and  in  other  subsequent  statements,  the  Seer  seems  to 
take  a  retrospective  view  of  the  nations  as  formerly  hostile, 
and  sees  now  that  there  is  no  more  hostility,  but  complete 
universal  reconciliation  and  consecration.  The  nations  that 
were  in  enmity  to  the  Lord  and  His  church  have  all  perished, 
and  now  the  people  that  are  saved,  who  formerly  constituted 
nationalities  and  empires  over  which  kings  reigned,  have 
their  citizenship  in  the  New  Jerusalem,  in  whose  light  they 
walk,  and  into  which  they  bring  all  their  glory,  in  fulfilment 
of  the  prophecies: 

And  nations  shall  come  to  thy  light, 

And  kings  to  the  brightness  of  thy  rising  ,  .  . 

And  the  sons  of  them  that  afflicted  thee 

Shall  come  bending  unto  thee  ; 

And  all  they  that  despised  thee 

Shall  bow  themselves  at  the  soles  of  thy  feet ; 

And  ihey  shall  call  thee.  The  City  of  the  i^ord, 

The  Zion  of  th.e  Holy  One  of  Israel  (Is.  Ix.  3,  14). 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  RESURRECTION 


407 


25  And  the  gates  thereof  shall  not  be  shut  at  all  by  day,  for  there 
shall  be  no  night  there  :  26  and  they  shall  bring  the  glory  and  honor 
of  the  nations  into  it. 

In  the  Old  Testament  prophets  the  gates  shall  not  be  shut 
either  by  day  or  by  night: 

Thy  gates  also  shall  be  open  continually ; 

They  shall  not  be  shut  by  day  or  by  night ; 

That  they  may  bring  unto  thee  the  forces  of  the  nations, 

And  their  kings  led  [with  them]  (Is.  k.  11). 

But  here  the  imagery  is  varied  again  (404),  in  order  to  ex- 
press the  idea  that  'there  shall  be  no  night  there';  for  the 
light  of  the  city  does  not  depend  upon  the  sun,  as  rising  and 
setting,  but  upon  the  constant  presence  and  glory  of  God. 
This  is  to  be  understood  in  the  sense  that  ignorance,  unbelief, 
calamity,  mourning,  and  death,  of  all  which  and  of  evil  in 
general  night  is  a  Scriptural  symbol,  shall  have  no  place  in 
the  Holy  City  (406).  The  retrospective  glance  seems  also 
to  recur  to  the  Seer  ;  in  other  words,  he  seems  to  see  the 
open  gates  of  the  city  by  which  the  nations  have  been  re- 
ceived into  the  estate  of  salvation,  and  by  which  they  have 
brought  their  honor  and  glory  into  it,  and  at  the  same  time 
to  hear  the  ceaseless  praise  which  their  salvation  calls  forth 
(401). 

27  And  there  shall  in  no  wise  enter  into  it  anything  unclean,  or  that 
worketh  abomination,  or  a  lie,  but  only  they  who  have  been  written  in 
the  book  of  life  of  the  Lamb. 

The  word  here  rendered  'unclean'  literally  means  com- 
mon, which  is  explained  by  the  following:  "What  God  hath 
cleansed,  that  call  not  thou  common  "  (Acts  x.  15),  or  unclean. 
*  Abomination  '  includes  all  sins  against  nature,  and  a  'lie  '  is 
the  practice  of  deceit  for  gain,  or  any  other  selfish  object 
(396),  and  the  holding  of  false  doctrines  concerning  God  and 
divine  things.  All  who  practice  such  iniquities  have  been 
cast  into  the  lake  of  fire.  They  only  have  part  in  the  city 
whose  names  are  written  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life  (86). 


4o8  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

xxii.  I  And  he  showed  me  a  river  of  the  w^ater  of  life,  bright  as 
crystal,  coming  forth  out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb. 

He  who  shows  this  is  the  angel  of  preceding  visions,  one 
of  those  who  had  the  seven  last  plagues  (397),  to  denote  that, 
up  to  the  very  end,  the  connection  betv/een  the  divine  judg- 
ments and  the  blessedness  of  the  saved  is  to  be  borne  in 
mind,  as  one  of  the  great  lessons  of  the  book.  Here  the  city 
of  the  saved  is  identified  with  the  typical  Paradise,  once  lost, 
but  now  regained  in  a  transfigured  and  glorified  state,  or 
rather  with  that  celestial  Paradise  into  which  our  Lord  re- 
ceived the  penitent  thief  (Luke  xxiii.  43),  and  into  which  St. 
Paul  was  caught  up  (2  Cor.  xii.  4).  For  in  this  river  there 
is  an  allusion  to  that  which  watered  the  garden  of  Eden 
(Gen.  ii.  10).  It  is  a  '  river,'  or  flood,  as  the  word  is  some- 
times rendered,  to  denote  the  exhaustless  abundance  which 
it  pours  forth;  it  is  the  'river  of  the  water  of  life '  because  it 
is  the  symbol  of  life,  especially  of  spiritual  life;  and  its 
waters  are 'bright  as  crystal,' to  represent  the  purity  and 
excellence  of  this  life,  perhaps  also  because  it  clearly  reflects 
the  heavenly  light,  for  'the  life  is  the  light  of  men'  (John  i. 
4).  It  flows  forth  out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb, 
which  is  one  throne  (104),  to  signify  that  this  life  has  its 
source  in  God  (394),  and  more  particularly  in  the  divine 
sovereignty  bestowing  it  upon  whom  He  will  (395),  and  in 
the  Lamb  who  was  slain  in  sacrifice  for  sin.  Thus  also  the 
Psalmist: 

With  thee  is  the  fountain  of  life  ; 

In  thy  light  shall  we  see  light  (Ps.  xxxvi.  9). 

Water  as  a  symbol  of  life  runs,  as  we  have  seen,  through  the 
whole  Scripture  (395),  especially  in  the  prophets,  who  speak 
of  living  waters  flowing  forth  from  the  temple  and  sanctuary 
(Ez.  xlvii.  i),  but  in  this  city  there  is  no  temple  other  than 
God  and  the  Lamb  (404);  consequently  this  river  of  the 
water  of  life  comes  immediately  from  their  throne.  In  the 
passage  of  Ezekiel  just  referred  to,  it  is  said:  "He  brought 
me  and  caused  me  to  return  to  the  brink  of  the  river.  .  .  . 
Then  said  he  unto  me,  These  waters  issue  forth  toward  the 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  RESURRECTION 


409 


eastern  region  .  .  .  into  the  sea  .  .  .  and  the  waters  [of  the 
sea]  shall  be  healed  [i.  e.  the  nations  shall  be  delivered  from 
their  sinful  and  stormy  agitations]  and  everything  shall  live 
whithersoever  the  river  cometh  (391).  .  •  .  But  the  miry 
places  thereof,  and  the  marishes  thereof,  shall  not  be  healed: 
they  shall  be  given  up  to  salt"  (Ez.  xlvii.  6-1 1).  These 
places  represent  the  world  of  spiritual  evil  without  the  city, 
the  dwellings  of  the  lost;  and  they  are  'given  up  to  salt' 
(Jer.  xvii.  6),  as  ruined  cities  were  sown  with  salt,  to  denote 
that  they  should  remain  a  perpetual  desolation  (Judges 
ix.  46). 

2  In  the  midst  of  the  street  of  it,  and  on  either  side  of  the  river, 
was  there  the  tree  of  life,  bearing  twelve  [growths  of]  fruits,  yielding 
the  fruit  every  month ;  and  the  leaves  of  the  tree  were  for  the  healing 
of  the  nations. 

This  tree  of  life,  which  first  appeared  in  the  Paradise  of 
man's  innocence  and  happiness,  where,  however,  we  have 
only  a  glimpse  of  it,  probably  to  denote  the  brevity  of  that 
blessed  estate,  reappears  now  in  the  Paradise  regained,  but 
how  transfigured  !  For  instead  of  being  a  single  tree,  as  it 
was  there,  it  has  become  a  grove,  stretching  along  on  both 
banks  of  the  river,  whose  course  it  follows  through  '  the 
street,'  i.  e.  through  the  streets  of  the  city:  also,  it  bears 
twelve  growths  of  fruits,  one  every  month;  in  other  words, 
it  is  a  tree  of  perennial  fruit-bearing;  and  even  its  leaves  are 
for  the  healing  of  the  nations.  The  prophet  also  describes 
it  in  words  of  the  same  import:  "  By  the  river  upon  the  bank 
thereof,  on  this  side  and  on  that,  shall  grow  every  tree  for 
food,  whose  leaf  shall  not  wither,  neither  shall  the  fruit 
thereof  fail;  it  shall  bring  forth  first  fruits  every  month, 
because  the  waters  thereof  issue  out  of  the  sanctuary:  and 
the  fruit  thereof  shall  be  for  food,  and  the  leaf  thereof  for 
healing"  (Ez.  xlvii.  12).  Beyond  all  question,  this  tree  is 
the  symbol  of  the  word  of  God,  as  it  was  also  in  the  garden 
of  Eden;  for  the  word  of  God  is  the  food  of  man's  spiritual 
nature,  by  which  only  does  he  live  a  spiritual  life,  as  in  the 
Lord's  words,  quoted  from  a  preceding  Scripture  (Deut.  viii. 
18 


4IO 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YPSE 


3):  "Man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word 
that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God  "  (Mat.  iv.  4).  The 
tree  grows  on  the  banks  of  the  river  of  the  water  of  life,  to 
signify  that  the  life  which  it  imparts  it  draws  from  that  full 
stream  which  flows  forth  out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  the 
Lamb.  It  bears  twelve  growths  of  fruits,  to  denote  that  it 
completely  (109)  supplies  all  man's  spiritual  wants,  leaving 
nothing  to  desire;  and  it  yields  one  growth  every  month,  to 
signify  that  its  fruitfulness  is  not  affected  by  any  change  of 
season,  but  is  perennial  and  inexhaustible,  and  that  such  is 
the  word  of  God.  But  what  is  most  significant  of  all  is,  that 
in  this  new  Paradise  there  is  no  '  tree  of  the  knowledge  be- 
tween good  and  evil '  (Gen.  ii.  9);  for  here  man  is  no  longer 
on  probation,  nor  liable  to  fall  from  his  holy  and  blessed 
estate,  but  stands  confirmed  forever  in  the  grace  that  has 
saved  him  from  all  the  consequences  of  his  original  sin  of 
choosing  by  his  own  wisdom  between  good  and  evil.*  In 
fine, '  the  leaves  of  the  tree  were  for  the  healing  of  the  na- 
tions,' which,  as  leaves  are  only  another  form  of  what  the 
tree  bears,  may  be  understood  in  the  sense,  that  by  the  word 
of  God  the  nations  have  been  healed  of  their  spiritual  mala- 
dies, as  in  the  prophecy  just  quoted,  '  The  waters  [of  the  sea] 
shall  be  healed  '  (409).  Here,  however,  the  Seer  evidently 
reverts  to  his  retrospective  view,  for  in  the  resurrection  cer- 
tainly there  are  no  diseases  to  be  healed. 

3  And  there  shall  be  no  more  any  cursed  thing;  and  the  throne  of 
God  and  the  Lamb  shall  be  in  it  ;  and  His  servants  shall  serve  Him :  4 
and  they  shall  see  His  face,  and  His  name  shall  be  on  their  foreheads  : 
5  and  there  shall  be  no  more  night,  and  they  shall  have  no  need  of  a 
lamp,  or  light  of  the  sun  ;  for  the  Lord  God  will  shine  upon  them,  and 
they  shall  reign  forever  and  ever. 

In  this  new  Paradise  '  there  shall  not  be  any  accursed 
thing,'  as  there  was  in  the  former  one,  namely,  the  serpent, 
the  tempter,  for  he  has  been  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire  (376). 
But  'the  throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb  shall  be  in  it,'  which 
signifies  that  it  will  be  under  the  immediate  government  of 


■  See  Wiidom  of  Holy  Scripture,  xi.  and  xii. 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  RESURRECTION 


411 


God  in  Christ,  to  whom  the  singular  pronoun  in  the  words, 
'His  servants  shall  serve  Him,' refers;  and  their  beatitude 
will  consist  in  an  ever  active  service  (160).  There  is  a  preg- 
nant meaning  in  the  words,  'they  shall  see  His  face,'  namely, 
that  there  will  be  no  more  concealment,  but  they  shall  be- 
hold His  unveiled  glory,  which  will  fill  them  with  the  most 
perfect  happiness;  and  that  His  image  or  likeness  will  be 
perfectly  reflected  and  reproduced  in  them,  as  in  the  words  : 
"  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God  (Mat. 
V.  8).  We  all,  beholding  with  unveiled  face,  as  in  a  mirror, 
the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are  transformed  into  the  same  image 
from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  (2 
Cor.  iii.  18).  Now  are  we  the  children  of  God,  and  it  doth 
not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be,  [but]  we  know  that,  when 
He  shall  be  manifested,  we  shall  be  like  Him,  for  we  shall 
see  Him  as  He  is  "  (i  John  iii.  3).  'And  His  name  shall  be 
on  their  foreheads,'  in  allusion  to  the  sealing  of  His  servants, 
signifying  that  all  their  intellectual  and  spiritual  faculties 
are  consecrated  to  His  service,  and  that  they  are  His  peculiar 
and  inalienable  possession  (154).  That  there  shall  be  no 
more  night,  and  that  they  shall  have  no  need  of  a  lamp  nor 
of  the  sun,  because  God  Himself  will  be  their  light,  are  re- 
peated in  order  that  this  blessed  assurance  may  linger  on 
their  ear  in  the  closing  words  of  the  vision  (405).  'And  they 
shall  reign  forever  and  ever,'  over  whom,  or  what  ?  Perhaps 
this  is  to  be  taken  in  an  indefinite  sense,  to  express  their  ex- 
altation, the  highest  degree  of  glory  and  happiness,  as  in 
the  words  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Corinthian  Christians:  "  I  would 
that  ye  did  reign,  that  we  also  might  reign  with  you  "  (i  Cor. 
iv.  8);  and  perhaps  its  meaning  is,  that,  in  this  glorified  state, 
man  will  recover  all  that  dominion  over  nature  with  which  he 
seems  to  have  been  endowed  at  his  creation,  and  which  he 
lost  in  the  fall. 

Thus  closes  this  grand  vision  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  in 
which  are  fulfilled  the  words  of  God,  '  Behold,  I  make  all 
tilings  new.'  As  at  the  beginning,  so  at  the  end,  there  is  an 
effulgence  of  glory,  as  when  '  God  said.  Let  there  be  light, 
and  there  was  light,'     The  gloom  and  sorrow  of  the  preced- 


412 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 


ing  judgments  have  now  given  place  to  the  full  realization 
of  grace,  mercy,  and  peace,  and  everlasting  joy.  For  now 
'the  tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men,  and  He  will  dwell  with 
them;  and  they  shall  be  His  peoples,  and  He  will  be  God 
with  them,  their  God  (393);  and  He  will  wipe  away  every  tear 
from  their  eyes;  and  there  shall  be  no  more  death,  neither 
shall  there  be  mourning  nor  crying  nor  pain  any  more;  for 
the  first  things  are  passed  away.'  And  how  could  the  senti- 
ments which  all  this  was  intended  to  awaken  in  our  hearts 
be  better  expressed  than  in  the  following  anonymous  hymn  ? 


Jerusalem,  my  happy  home, 

Name  ever  dear  to  me, 

When  shall  my  labors  have  an  end 

In  joy  and  peace  and  thee  .? 

When  shall  these  eyes  thy  heaven  built 

walls, 
And  pearly  g^ates  behold  ? 
Thy  bulwarks,  with  salvation  strong. 
And  streets  of  shining  gold  ? 
O  when,  thou  city  of  my  God, 
Shall  I  thy  courts  ascend. 
Where  congregations  ne'er  break  up. 
And  Sabbaths  have  no  end  ? 
There  happier  bowers  than  Eden's  bloom 
Nor  sin  nor  sorrow  know  : 


Blest   seats,   through    rude    and    stormy 

scenes 
1  onward  press  to  you. 
Why  should  I  shrink  at  pain  or  woe, 
Or  feel  at  death  dismay  ? 
I've  Canaan's  goodly  land  in  view. 
And  realms  of  endless  day. 
Apostles,  martyrs,  prophets  there 
Around  my  Saviour  stand  ; 
And  soon  my  friends  in  Christ  below 
Will  join  the  glorious  band. 
Jerusalem,  my  happy  home. 
My  soul  still  pants  for  thee  ; 
Then  shall  my  labors  have  an  end, 
When  I  thy  joys  shall  see. 


XLVIII 

CONCLUSION     ASSURANCES     BLESSINGS      INVITATIONS 
WARNINGS      XXII    6-21 

The  brief  conclusion  of  the  book  is  wonderfully  simple 
and  sublime,  consisting,  for  the  most  part,  of  the  following 
particulars:  (i)  Assurances  that  these  visions  are  a  true 
revelation  from  God,  and  of  such  sanctity  that  whosoever 
shall  add  to,  or  take  away  from,  its  words  shall  suffer  the 
plagues  which  are  therein  described:  (2)  that  they  who  keep 
its  instructions  shall  be  forever  blessed:  (3)  all  are  earnestly 
invited  and  urged  to  come  and  drink  freely  of  the  water  of 
life  which  flows  forth  out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  the 
Lamb:  (4)  the  wicked  shall  surely  perish:  (5)  the  time  of 
the  Lord's  coming,  when  all  the  prophecies  shall  be  fulfilled, 
is  near  at  hand:  (6)  a  prayer  that  this  time  may  be  hastened, 
closing  with  (7)  the  apostolic  benediction  upon  all  the  saints. 

6  And  he  said  unto  me,  These  w^ords  are  faithful  and  true  ;  and  the 
Lord,  the  God  of  the  spirits  of  the  prophets,  hath  sent  His  angel  to 
show  unto  His  servants  what  things  must  shortly  come  to  pass. 

He  who  speaks  here  is  the  same  angel  that  has  shown  to 
the  Seer  the  glories  of  the  New  Jerusalem  (397).  The 
*  words '  which  he  declares  to  be  *  faithful  and  true  '  are  the 
revelations  of  the  whole  book;  which  declaration  he  con- 
firms by  referring  to  the  Lord  who  inspired  the  spirits  of 
prophets  in  all  their  deliverances,  as  the  same  God  who  hath 
sent  His  angel  to  make  these  disclosures  to  His  servants  of 
things  which  must  shortly  come  to  pass.  What  the  angel 
says  is  substantially  the  same  with  the  first  sentence  of  the 
book,  where  its  meaning  has  been  considered  (2). 

(413.") 


414 


WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YFSE 


7  And,  behold,  I  come  quickly.  Blessed  is  he  that  keepeth  the 
words  of  the  prophecy  of  this  book. 

These  are  evidently  the  words  of  the  Lord  Himself,  yet 
doubtless  by  the  mouth  of  this  angel  representing  Him;  for 
nothing  is  more  common  in  the  ministry  of  angels  than  their 
speaking  in  the  person  of  Him  whom  they  represent.  The 
nearness  of  the  Lord's  coming,  here  as  elsewhere,  must  be 
understood  with  reference  to  the  whole  series  of  events  which 
the  expression  covers  (20),  and  in  that  large  prophetic  sense 
in  which  'one  day  is  with  the  Lord  as  a  thousand  years,  and 
a  thousand  years  as  one  day'  (2  Pet.  iii.  8).  The  blessing  of 
the  introduction  (10)  is  repeated  at  the  close  of  the  book  for 
the  sake  of  emphasis. 

8  And  I  John  am  he  that  heard  and  saw  these  things  :  and  when  I 
heard  and  saw,  I  fell  down  to  worship  before  the  feet  of  the  angel  who 
showed  me  these  things  :  9  and  he  saith  unto  me,  See  [thou  do  it]  not ; 
I  am  a  fellow-servant  with  thee,  and  with  thy  brethren  the  prophets, 
and  vtiih  those  who  keep  the  words  of  this  book  :  worship  God. 

The  apostle  here  testifies  again  that  he  did  actually  see 
and  hear  the  things  which  he  describes  (10).  And  hearing 
this  angel  speaking  in  the  person  of  the  Lord,  and  declaring 
that  he  will  come  quickly,  he  seems  to  mistake  him  for  the 
Lord  Himself,  and  falls  down  at  his  feet  to  worship  him. 
But  the  angel  hastens  to  admonish  him  that  he  is  only  a 
fellow  servant  with  him,  and  with  his  brethren  the  prophets, 
and  with  those  who  keep  the  revelations  of  this  book;  where- 
in we  see  that  these  last  are  classed  with  prophets  and 
angels,  as  an  additional  reason  for  the  study  and  keeping  of 
these  prophecies  (10).  The  incident  is  very  like  one  that 
has  occurred  before,  which  shows  us  how  prone  we  are  to 
worship  angels,  and  emphasizes  the  grand  truth,  that  God 
only  is  to  be  worshipped  (350). 

10  And  he  saith  unto  me,  Seal  not  the  words  of  the  prophecy  of 
this  book,  for  the  time  is  near.  11  He  that  is  unjust,  let  him  be  unjust 
still ;  and  he  that  is  polluted,  let  him  be  polluted  still ;  and  he  that  is 
righteous,  let  him  be  righteous  still  ;  and  he  that  is  holy,  let  him  be 
holy  still. 


BLESSINGS 


415 


It  was  said  to  the  prophet  Daniel,  that  he  '  should  shut  up 
the  vision,  for  it  should  be  for  many  days'  (Dan.  viii,  26); 
and  the  reason  why  these  visions  are  not  to  be  sealed  up  is, 
that  '  the  time  is  near';  for  this  makes  it  the  more  necessary 
that  they  shall  be  published,  if  they  are  to  do  any  good.  In  a 
perfectly  literal  translation  what  follows  would  read,  '  He  that 
is  unjust,  let  him  do  injustice  still;  and  he  that  is  polluted,  let 
him  pollute  himself  still;  and  he  that  is  righteous,  let  him 
do  righteousness  still;  and  he  that  is  holy,  let  him  hallow 
himself  still.'  But  the  true  sense  seems  to  be  better  given 
in  the  freer  rendering  of  our  English  Bible,  which  I  have 
followed,  except  in  one  word.  The  four  particulars  men- 
tioned are  intended  to  include  all  mankind  (114).  The 
meaning  is  not,  as  some  understand  it,  that  the  end  is  so 
near  that  there  is  no  longer  any  opportunity  for  a  change  of 
character,  or  course  of  life,  but  rather  that  men  are  always 
forming  their  characters  so  that  they  cannot  be  changed,  as 
some  one  has  so  tersely  expressed  it :  "  Sow  an  act,  reap  a 
habit;  sow  a  habit,  reap  a  character;  sow  a  character,  reap  a 
destiny."  'In  this  immutable  law  the  key  of  some  of  the 
darkest  problems  of  the  future  may  lie;  and  not  without  a 
solemn  enunciation  of  this  law  does  the  book  of  Revelation 
close.'  Daniel's  visions  also  close  in  a  similar  manner: 
''  Many  will  purify  themselves,  and  make  themselves  white, 
and  be  refined  ;  but  the  wicked  will  do  wickedly;  and  none 
of  the  wicked  will  understand,  but  they  that  be  wise  will 
understand"  (Dan.  xii.  10). 


12  Behold,  I  come  quickly,  and  my  reward  is  writh  me,  to  render 
back  to  each  one  as  his  work  is.  13  I  am  the  Alpha  and  the  Omega, 
the  first  and  the  last,  the  beginning  and  the  end.  14  Blessed  are  they 
v/ho  wash  their  robes,  that  they  may  have  a  right  to  the  tree  of  life, 
and  may  enter  into  the  gates  of  the  city.  15  Without  are  the  dogs, 
and  the  sorcerers,  and  the  fornicators,  and  the  murderers,  and  the 
idolaters,  and  every  one  that  loveth  and  maketh  a  lie. 

The  angel  continues  to  speak  in  the  person  of  the  Lord, 
v/ho  always  comes  quickly,  and  always  with  His  reward  or 
recompense,  as  in  the  prophet: 


4l6  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

Behold,  the  Lord  God  will  come  as  a  mighty  one, 

And  His  arm  shall  rule  for  Him  : 

Behold,  His  reward  is  with  Him, 

And  His  recompense  before  Him  (Is.  xl.  lo). 

Here,  however,  the  reference  is  to  His  coming  in  the  judg- 
ment of  the  last  day,  when  every  one  will  be  paid  back  accord- 
ing to  his  works  (384).  In  affirming  by  His  angel  that 
He  is  'the  Alpha  and  the  Omega,  the  first  and  the  last,  the 
beginning  and  the  end,'  the  Lord  here  claims  absolute  divin- 
ity, as  in  previous  instances  where  these  words  are  spoken 
by  'the  Lord  God'  (394).  The  blessing  here  pronounced 
upon  those  'who  wash  their  robes,'  i.  e.  in  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb  (160),  is  that  they  shall  'have  a  right  to  the  tree  of 
life,'  literally  'the  authority  over  the  tree,'  and  shall  enter 
into  the  Golden  City  by  its  gates  of  praise  (404);  whilst 
'without'  the  city,  i.e.  in  the  regions  of  the  lost,  all  the  in- 
corrigibly immoral  remain  (409);  among  whom  'the  dogs' 
correspond  to  '  the  abominable '  in  a  previous  character- 
ization of  those  who  are  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire  (396). 

16  I  Jesus  have  sent  mine  angel  to  testify  these  things  unto  you 
in  the  churches.  I  am  the  root  and  the  offspring  of  David,  the  bright, 
the  morning  star.  17  And  the  Spirit  and  the  Bride  say.  Come  ;  and 
let  him  that  heareth  say,  Come  ;  and  let  him  that  is  athirst  come  ;  and 
let  him  that  will  take  the  water  of  life  freely. 

These  are  certainly  the  words  of  the  Lord,  but  probably 
by  the  mouth  of  the  angel  who  has  spoken  before  in  His  per- 
son with  such  fulness  of  authority  that  the  Seer  has  actually 
fallen  down  to  worship  him  (414).  Thus  speaking  through 
him,  the  Lord  here  declares  that  He  has  sent  His  angel  to 
testify  '  these  things,'  i.  e.  the  revelations  of  the  whole  book, 
unto  His  servants  in  all  the  churches.  Moreover,  these 
revelations  are  from  Him  who  has  before  been  called  '  the 
root  of  David'  (119),  to  which  'offspring,'  or  race,  is  added 
here,  both  because  He  represented  the  tribe  of  Judah  out  of 
which  David  came,  and  descended  lineally  from  him.  The 
idea  is  analogous  to  that  of  His  being  both  David's  Lord 
and  David's  Son  (Mat.  xxii.  42-45).  He  is  also  'the  bright, 
the  morning  star,'  which  harbingers  the  eternal  day,  in  allu- 


INVITATIONS 


417 


sion  to  'the  star  that  should  rise  out  of  Jacob'  (Num.  xxiv. 
17),  and  to  'the  day-star'  of  all  man's  aspirations  and  hopes 
(2  Pet.  i.  19),  And,  now,  at  the  close  of  all  these  admoni- 
tions and  warnings,  '  the  Spirit  and  the  Bride  say,  Come ';  for 
the  meaning  of  all  the  strivings  of  the  Spirit,  who  '  maketli 
intercession  for  us  with  groanings  that  cannot  be  uttered,' 
and  of  all  the  ministry  of  the  church,  especially  in  causing 
the  gospel  to  be  preached  to  every  creature,  is  this  invita- 
tion to  all  men  to  come  and  take  the  water  of  life  freely. 
'And  let  him  that  heareth  say.  Come';  for  the  meaning  of 
all  the  revelations  of  this  book,  and,  indeed,  of  the  whole 
gospel  or  word  of  God,  is.  Come  take  the  water  of  life 
freely.  Hence  it  is  the  duty  and  privilege  of  every  one  who 
hears  and  receives  the  word  to  re-echo  this  call  of  the 
Spirit  and  the  Bride,  that  it  may  be  heard  throughout  the 
\vorld  to  the  latest  ages  of  time.  '  And  let  him  that  is  athirst 
come ';  for  the  meaning  of  all  those  cravings  and  longings  of 
the  human  soul,  which  nothing  of  an  earthly  or  perishable 
nature  can  ever  appease,  is.  Come,  take  the  water  of  life 
freely:  and  'whosoever  shall  drink  of  this  water  shall  never 
thirst  again'  (John  iv.  14).  'And  let  him  that  will  take  the 
water  of  life  freely ';  for  salvation  is  absolutely  free  to  all 
men,  and  none  can  fail  of  it  for  any  other  cause  than  that 
which  is  expressed  in  the  Lord's  words:  "Ye  will  not  come 
to  me  that  ye  may  have  life"  (John  v.  40).  It  has  been 
fitly  observed,  also,  that  '  the  whole  power  of  the  gospel  con- 
centrates itself  in  this,  that  we  should  be  able  to  respond  to 
this  Come,  and  should  repeat  it  from  the  heart';  for  grace 
which  does  not  make  us  the  ministers  of  grace  to  others  is 
no  grace  to  us. 

r8  I  testify  unto  every  man  that  heareth  the  words  of  the  prophecy 
of  this  book,  if  any  man  shall  add  unto  them,  God  will  add  unto  him 
the  plagues  which  are  written  in  this  book:  19  and  if  any  man  shall 
take  away  from  the  words  of  the  book  of  this  prophecy,  God  will  take 
away  his  part  from  the  tree  of  life,  and  out  of  the  Holy  City,  which 
are  written  in  this  book. 

There  is  great  diversity  of  opinion  as  to   the  speaker  of 
these  words.     It  is  commonly  understood  that  he  is  the  Seer 
18* 


41 8  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

himself  ;  and  hence  Luther  discredited  the  whole  book,  re- 
garding them  as  unworthy  of  the  modesty  of  an  apostle  of 
the  Lord.  But  this  objection  has  no  force,  for  Moses  and 
other  prophets  use  similar  language;  and.  indeed,  from  their 
consciousness  of  being  mouth-pieces  of  God,  how  could  they 
avoid  it?  The  following  are  examples:  "Ye  shall  not  add 
unto  the  word  which  I  command  you,  neither  shall  ye 
diminish  from  it,  that  ye  may  keep  the  commandments  of 
the  Lord  your  God  which  I  command  you  (Deut.  iv.  2). 
Every  word  of  God  is  pure.  .  .  .  Add  not  thou  unto  His 
words,  lest  He  reprove  thee,  and  thou  be  found  a  liar"  (Prov. 
XXX.  5-6).  But  I  see  no  reason  why  these  words  should  not 
be  those  of  the  angel  continuing  to  speak  in  the  person  of 
the  Lord,  especially  since  there  is  no  intimation  of  any 
change  from  one  speaker  to  another.  Here,  then,  it  is  the  Lord 
who  testifies  by  the  mouth  of  His  angel,  and  testification  is 
a  solemn  asseveration  which  binds  those  to  whom  it  is  ad- 
dressed. By  these  words  He  impresses  His  own  seal  upon 
the  Apocalypse,  and  warns  us  against  handling  it  rashly  or 
deceitfully;  against  allowing  our  own  desires  or  preconceived 
opinions  to  govern  our  interpretations  of  it ;  against  all 
attempts  to  weaken  the  force  of  its  warnings,  or  to  impov- 
erish the  riches  of  its  promises.  And  one  object  of  this 
warning  was,  no  doubt,  to  guard  the  book  from  corruption, 
to  preserve  its  integrity  ;  for  such  is  its  fulness  and  com- 
pleteness, as  a  divine  revelation  of  the  things  concerning 
which  it  treats,  that  nothing  can  be  added  to  or  taken  from 
it.  Therefore  he  who  shall  attempt  to  do  any  of  these  things 
shall  forfeit  all  right  to  the  tree  of  life  ;  God  will  take  away 
his  part  out  of  the  Holy  City,  and  he  shall  be  made  to  suffer 
all  the  plagues  which  are  written  in  this  book. 

20  He  who  testifieth  these  things  saith,  Yea,  I  come  quickly. 
Amen,  come,  Lord  Jesus, 

The  things  to  which  He  thus  solemnly  testifies  are  all  the 
revelations  of  the  book,  upon  which  He  has  just  impressed 
His  seal,  and  of  which  His  coming  is  the  theme  (16).  Hence 
it  closes,  as  it  opens,  with  the  assurance  that  He  will  come 


WARNINGS 


419 


quickly,  as  in  all  the  prophecies.  For  although,  as  we 
measure  time,  His  final  advent  has  been  delayed  for  thou- 
sands of  years,  and  may  be  for  thousands  more,  yet  His 
coming  in  great  displays  of  His  power  and  glory,  in  great 
judgments  and  great  works  of  grace  (18),  for  the  establish- 
ment of  His  kingdom,  is  constantly  taking  place  in  answer 
to  the  prayers  of  His  people:  and  the  crowning  result  of  the 
whole  scheme  of  divine  providence  in  His  coming  to  destroy 
the  works  of  the  devil,  and  to  establish  the  New  Jerusalem 
on  earth,  is  always  near  as  God  measures  time,  with  whom 
*  one  day  is  as  a  thousand  years,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one 
day'  (2  Pet.  iii.  8).  Hence  it  is  for  us  to  join,  with  strong 
faith  and  glowing  expectations,  in  this  response  of  the  Seer 
to  the  testification  in  his  'Amen,  come.  Lord  Jesus.'  For  in 
this  response  and  prayer,  He  is  the  mouthpiece  of  the  true 
church  in  all  ages,  who  waits  and  prays  for,  who  loves  and 
hastens  unto  the  appearing  of  her  Lord. 

21  The  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  be  with  all  the  saints. 

May  this  unmerited  grace  be  given  to  the  author  and  read- 
ers of  this  work  ;  for  this  alone  can  enable  us  to  understand 
the  Apocalypse,  or  any  of  God's  revelations  to  man  ;  this 
alone  can  give  us  a  part  in  the  Holy  City,  and  a  right  to  the 
tree  of  life. 

Thus  ends  the  most  wonderful  book  that  was  ever  written, 
which  is  without  a  parallel  for  its  symbolical  style,  for  the 
grandeur  of  its  moral  ideas,  for  the  boldness  and  certainty 
of  its  predictions.  These  ideas  are  such  as  the  following: 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  Lamb  of  God,  by  whose  sacrificial  death 
men  are  saved  from  sin,  death,  and  hell:  for  the  merit  of  His 
most  holy  sacrifice  He  is  exalted  to  be  the  mediatorial  gov- 
ernor of  the  world,  and  the  adm.inistrative  head  of  the  whole 
scheme  of  divine  providence:  He  comes  to  establish  His 
authority  in  all  His  judgments  and  works  of  grace:  these 
judgments  come  upon  the  world  in  answer  to  the  prayers  .of 
the  saints,  that  His  kingdom  may  come,  and  by  them  He 
avenges  the  blood  of  the  martyrs,  and   subdues  the  world 


420  WISDOM  OF  THE  APOCAL  YFSE 

unto  Himself  :  His  great  enemy  is  Satan,  and  Satar.'s  three 
great  instruments  are  scepticism,  antichristian  secular,  and 
antichristian  ecclesiastical  power:  the  church  is  ravaged  by 
scepticism,  and  in  bondage  to  the  world,  but  will  be  delivered 
from  this  bondage,  and  her  faith  will  be  restored,  by  great 
judgments  upon  the  world,  in  which  the  antichristian  powers 
will  be  destroyed,  and  Satan  will  be  thrown  into  chains,  and 
shut  up  in  prison:  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  will  become 
the  kingdom  of  our  God  and  of  His  Christ,  and  He,  with 
His  saints,  will  reign  in  peace  over  mankind  for  a  thousand 
years:  afterwards  Satan  will  be  loosed  out  of  his  prison,  and 
a  general,  but  brief  rebellion  will  follow,  which  the  Lord 
will  suddenly  and  effectually  suppress:  then  there  will  be  a 
resurrection  and  a  final  judgment  of  all  the  dead:  Satan  and 
the  incorrigibly  rebellious  of  mankind  will  be  cast  into  hell: 
the  earth  will  be  renovated  for  the  everlasting  abode  of  the 
righteous:  the  New  Jerusalem,  the  church  of  the  resurrec- 
tion, will  descend  from  heaven  to  the  earth,  and  the  earth 
will  become  heaven,  where  the  saints,  clothed  with  their 
resurrection  bodies,  will  live  forever  in  a  state  of  perfect 
beatitude  and  infinite  glory  arising  from  the  presence  with 
and  in  them  of  God  and  the  Lamb.  *  Amen,  come,  Lord 
Jesus.' 

THE    END. 


DATE  DUE 

■r^^^^ 

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, 

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BS2825.IVI152 

The  wisdom  of  the  Apocalypse. 

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